St. Anthony Messenger September 2021

Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world VOL. 129/NO. 3 • SEPTEMBER 2021 • PUBLISHED BY FRANCISCAN MEDIA

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Make Room for Simplicity PAGE 16

9/11 at 20

TWO FRIARS SHARE THEIR STORIES

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FACING MARITAL CHALLENGES FAITH DURING THE PANDEMIC 3 CRUCIAL CATHOLIC PRACTICES

Help sustain our friars in their ministerial work.

Br. Raphael visits a classroom and leads a home visit with Sr. Louie.

Br. Raphael Ozude, a temporary professed friar, spent six weeks serving in Jamaica during his summer ministry. He worked at St. Anthony’s Kitchen, led prayer sessions, helped with faith formation, visited the sick and elderly in their homes, and much more.

Would you consider a gift to help sustain him and his brother friars on their journeys to priesthood or brotherhood?

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VOL. 129 N O. 3

SEPTEMBER

2021 20/21

32 32 9/11 at 20: A Tale of Two Friars

COVER STORY Known as the Ground Zero cross, this formation of steel beams quickly became a symbol of hope.

By Susan Hines-Brigger

COVER: PANTHER MEDIA GMBH/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; ABOVE: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM

Two Franciscans look back on their experiences of that day and its ongoing impact on their lives.

18 After ‘I Do’: Facing the Challenges of Marriage

By Shannon K. Evans

Falling in love is easy; staying in love takes work. Here are five practices to strengthen the bonds of marriage.

22 The Light of Faith in the Darkness of COVID-19

By Daniel Imwalle

Over 1,200 responses poured in when we surveyed how the coronavirus pandemic impacted people’s faith and religious practices. Here is what we discovered.

28 The Power of Prayer, Worship, and Service

By Mary Ann Steutermann

These three Catholic practices remind us of God’s abiding presence and can help us navigate life’s ups and downs.

Coming

Father Michael Groark, OFM Cap, on OCTOBER his recovery from addiction and his Issue call to religious life

in the

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 1

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he saints were real people with real stories—just like us! Their surrender to God’s love was so generous that the Church recognizes them as heroes and heroines worthy of being held up for our inspiration. Join Franciscan Media in our daily celebration of these holy men and women of God. Sign up for Saint of the Day, a free resource delivered right to your inbox.

St. Rose of Viterbo September 4

St. Rose achieved sainthood in only 18 years of life. She had shown a great desire for prayer early in life and joined the Secular Franciscans at the age of 10.

Rose preached in the streets and was very generous to the poor.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary September 8

Affirming the humanity of Jesus, the Church celebrates the birth of his mother.

While Scripture does not record the birth of Mary, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James notes the development of Christian piety around Mary’s parents and her birth.

St. Januarius September 19

Little is known about the life of Januarius. Legend has it that he and his companions were thrown to the bears in the amphitheater of Pozzuoli, but the animals failed to attack them. They were then beheaded, and Januarius’ blood was ultimately brought to Naples.

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael September 29

Angels appear frequently in Scripture, but only Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael are named. Each of these archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects, Gabriel announces, and Raphael guides.

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Saints featured in the month of September include . . .

VOL. 129

“All we have to do is to be careful to obey God’s will and please him.

N O. 3 We must be very careful, or we will turn out to be like the earth by the SEPTEMBER wayside, or the stony or thorn-choked ground, as our Lord tells us in the Gospel: The seed is the word of God.” —St. Francis of Assisi

2021

10 SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan

Celebrating the Mass in Latin

15 Editorial | Three Voices on 9/11 9/11: Looking Back, Moving Forward

12 Followers of St. Francis

16 At Home on Earth | Kyle Kramer

14 Franciscan World

44 Faith & Family | Susan Hines-Brigger

Father Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv

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16 POINTS OF VIEW

The Sisters of St. Francis of Rochester, Minnesota

Making Room for Simplicity Passing On History

14 St. Anthony Stories A+ for St. Anthony

40 CULTURE

40 Media Reviews

TED Talk | Interfaith Dialogue and Religion in the Tech World Streaming | Short Film

Showcase

42 Film Reviews

The Tomorrow War Cruella Land

46 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 4 Dear Reader Your Voice 5 6 Church in the News

45 Friar Pete 46 Let Us Pray 48 Reflection

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 3

dear reader After the Storm

PUBLISHER

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hank God for Pope Francis. I don’t think another pontiff could have helped us weather the COVID-19 storm any better. In a blessing he gave on March 27, 2020, a month after the pandemic made its presence known around the world, he said: “We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel, we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”

If COVID-19 was the storm, our faith was the sails. Surely all of us, at some point in these past two years, emptied our hearts to a listening God. The staff of St. Anthony Messenger began to wonder: How did our readers’ faith help them through this? What have we learned? Where do we go from here? Months ago, we asked you these questions; the answers can be found on page 23. We hope this article, pieced together by managing editor Daniel Imwalle, provides some context for what we endured with the pandemic.

It’s been a sad and frustrating time for all of us—worsened by ongoing social and political unrest. Let’s pray for cooler heads and calmer seas.

Daniel Kroger, OFM PRESIDENT

Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS

Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger

FRANCISCAN EDITORS

Pat McCloskey, OFM John Barker, OFM ART DIRECTOR

Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR

Daniel Imwalle

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Sandy Howison

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Sharon Lape

Christopher Heffron, Executive Editor

PRINTING

EP Graphics, Berne, IN ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 129, Number 3, is published 10 times per year for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone 513-241-5615.

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SUSAN HINES-BRIGGER WRITER 9/11 at 20: A Tale of Two Friars

WRITER Followers of St. Francis: Father Emanuel Vasconcelos

PAGE 18

PAGE 32

PAGE 12

Shannon K. Evans is a writer whose interests lie at the intersection of the spiritual and material. A married mother of five, this Iowa resident is the author of Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Spirituality (Brazos Press).

Since a young age, Susan Hines-Brigger has been a storyteller. She firmly believes that everyone has a unique and important story that should be told and considers it an honor to be able to share those stories through her writing.

Janice Lane Palko has been a writer, editor, and columnist for 25 years. The author of five Catholic-inspired romance novels, including the award-winning Most Highly Favored Daughter, she lives in Pittsburgh with her husband.

You can learn more about her at JaniceLanePalko.com.

WRITER After ‘I Do’: Facing the Challenges of Marriage

4 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

JANICE LANE PALKO

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SHANNON K. EVANS

POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE A Catch-22

I feel compelled to react to the May Church in the News story “Vatican: Church Cannot Bless Same-Sex Unions,” by Susan HinesBrigger. It was more than a little ludicrous and disingenuous for the Church to claim it lacks “the power to bless same-sex unions.”

Doesn’t the Vatican hold the ultimate power within the Roman Catholic Church? Of course it does, which means the Church—specifically, the pope—could bless same-sex unions.

Admittedly, the Church is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the controversial issue of same-sex marriage. If it blesses such unions, the Church will offend conservative members of the Church. In this case, the Church chose to offend liberal Catholics who may support such blessings.

Theologians in German-speaking countries reasoned correctly that “the life and love of same-sex couples are worth no less before God than the life and love of any other couple.”

Louis H. Pumphrey, Shaker Heights, Ohio

Feedback from Our Online Readers

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On “Blessed Stanley Rother: Martyr, Missionary, Shepherd,” by María Ruiz Scaperlanda —Father Stanley knowingly sacrificed his life to keep the sisters and his parishioners safe. What more is necessary for his sainthood proclamation?

—Such love is a beacon and a magnet for souls. I am in awe of his emulation of the Good Shepherd.

On “Praying through Pain,” by Colleen Arnold, MD —I pray for relief of chronic pain daily.

This article gave me a better understanding of how to connect with God and accept my condition. Thank you for sharing this article. God bless!

—This whole article was very meaningful, but especially the part about breathing in and asking the Holy Spirit to enter. This is so beautiful and will surely supersede my physical pain for at least a while. Thank you.

—This is a great article on how to pray through all types of pain—from mild to chronic. Excellent!

Stories from Our Readers on Practicing Faith during the Pandemic Nora’s First Communion

First Communion has always been a special gala in our family, as I’m sure it is for many others. Nora, our fourth grandchild of nine, was set to receive this beautiful sacrament on April 18, 2020. Of course, it was canceled due to the pandemic. Nora was very disappointed.

When it was rescheduled in June of 2020, relatives from all over ventured to Pittsburgh to see Nora on her special day. Seating was limited in the church, so her cousins and aunts watched via livestream. During Mass, our granddaughter kept asking for tissues.

“Does Nora have the sniffles?” I asked my daughter. “No, she’s crying,” she replied. “She said she is so happy everyone she loves was able to come and celebrate with her.”

This 8-year-old theologian reinforced our sense of awe that Our Lord lovingly comes to all of us in the Blessed Sacrament—and COVID-19 couldn’t stop that!

Robert Crimboli, Surfside Beach, South Carolina

Unexpected Blessings

The coming of the pandemic was an immediate assault on a triple-header of trips planned for March: by plane to Houston for my son’s 50th birthday, by train to Baltimore for my sister’s 70th surprise party, and by car to Beaufort, South Carolina, for my granddaughter’s Confirmation. None of those trips occurred, although I attended the Confirmation via FaceTime.

Disappointment, confusion, then fear followed as the dangers of this virus were sorted through and social-distancing measures were implemented. Our spiritual lives grew in the closeness of our marriage, and we shared YouTube homilies—especially those

by Bishop Robert Barron—Scripture passages, as well as the Mass readings from Give Us This Day. I read the Mepkin Abbey prayer for the pandemic almost daily. The vaccine brought us greater assurance we could make it through and survive.

Our gratitude for the support we all give to one another has grown, and a deeper appreciation of our vulnerability and for God’s grace is now in place in our lives.

Pamela Racine, Virginia Beach, Virginia

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StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 5

people | events | trends

By Susan Hines-Brigger

POPE SETS LIMITS ON PRE-VATICAN II MISSAL

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller elevates the Eucharist during the celebration of a Tridentine Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

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n a move that he said he hoped would be for the good of the Church, in July, Pope Francis restored limits on the celebration of the Mass according to the Roman Missal in use before the Second Vatican Council, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). The decision overturned or severely restricted permissions St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had given to celebrate the so-called Tridentine-rite Mass.

In his apostolic letter “Traditionis Custodes” (“Guardians

n July 4, after reciting the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis departed from the Vatican and checked into Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he underwent a scheduled surgery, reported Vatican News. The pope remained in the hospital for 10 days to recover before being released.

According to the Vatican Press Office, the pope’s surgery was “for a symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon.”

One week after his surgery, the pope greeted people gathered outside the hospital for the Sunday Angelus. He was joined on the balcony of his room by some young oncology patients at the hospital. The pope expressed his gratitude for people’s prayers, saying: “I have deeply felt your closeness and the support of your prayers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!” Afterward, being pushed in a wheelchair, he met with patients and medical staff at the hospital.

Prior to his return to the Vatican, the pope made a stop at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where, “before the icon of the Virgin Mary Salus Populi Romani, he expressed his 6 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

gratitude for the success of his surgery and offered a prayer for all the sick, especially those he had met during his stay in hospital,” according to Mateo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.

A little over a week after undergoing colon surgery, Pope Francis greets the crowd as he leads the Angelus from his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: COURTESY ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR; TOP RIGHT: VATICAN MEDIA

POPE UNDERGOES SURGERY

CNS PHOTOS: TOP: PAUL HARING; BOTTOM: VATICAN MEDIA

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of the Tradition”), Pope Francis declared the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council to be “the unique expression of the ‘lex orandi’ (‘law of worship’) of the Roman Rite.”

The letter restores the obligation of priests to have their bishops’ permission to celebrate according to the “extraordinary” or pre-Vatican II Mass and orders bishops not to establish any new groups or parishes in their dioceses devoted to the old liturgy. The pope also wrote that Masses celebrated according to the 1962 Missal should no longer take place in parishes. Rather, bishops are to establish the location(s) and days on which the Masses will be celebrated. Also, it is required that the readings be proclaimed “in the vernacular language,” using the translations approved by the episcopal conferences, reported Vatican News.

In an accompanying letter to bishops, Pope Francis said, “An opportunity offered by St. John Paul II and, with even greater magnanimity, by Benedict XVI, intended to recover the unity of an ecclesial body with diverse liturgical sensibilities, was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”

The pope said that the goal of the revision of the Roman Missal was to permit “the Church to raise up, in the variety of languages, ‘a single and identical prayer’ that expressed her unity. This unity I intend to re-establish throughout the Church of the Roman Rite.”

FRANCISCANS ELECT NEW MINISTER GENERAL

POPE, US SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN MEET AT VATICAN

CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: COURTESY ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR; TOP RIGHT: VATICAN MEDIA

CNS PHOTOS: TOP: PAUL HARING; BOTTOM: VATICAN MEDIA

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uring their general chapter meeting this past July, the Order of Friars Minor elected Father Massimo Fusarelli as the new minister general of the worldwide Franciscan order, reported CNS. Father Fusarelli succeeds US Franciscan Father Michael Perry.

In a telegram sent shortly after the election, Pope Francis congratulated Father Massimo Fusarelli Father Fusarelli and assured him of his prayers. “May the seraphic father, St. Francis, be an encouragement for you in leading your brothers,” the pope wrote.

The general chapter brought together 118 Franciscan leaders who represent nearly 13,000 friars. The first day of the chapter included a report summarizing input from Franciscans around the world about the order’s “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.”

According to a summary of the meeting published on the general chapter’s website, after a day of spiritual reflection, then-Minister General Father Perry presented his report to the chapter on the status of the order; its work in promoting justice, peace, and care for creation; and the ongoing attempt to return to “the original fraternal character of our founder, and for friars to reject the power and privilege of a clericalist mindset, and instead to live as lesser brothers in prayer and mission.”

In a message to the friars, Pope Francis told them, “As much of the order faces the challenges of declining numbers and aging, do not let anxiety and fear prevent you from opening your hearts and minds to the renewal and revitalization that the Spirit of God brings about in you and among you.”

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POPE PRAYS FOR OLYMPIANS

t the beginning of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this past July, Pope Francis offered a blessing for both the athletes taking part in the games and those organizing the events.

“In this time of pandemic, may these Games be a sign of hope, a sign of universal brotherhood marked by a healthy spirit of competition,” the pope said after praying the Angelus on July 25. “God bless the organizers, the athletes, and all those who collaborate for this great festival of sport.”

A total of 206 nations competed in the 32nd Olympiad, which began on July 23 and concluded on August 8.

Pope Francis walks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during an audience at the Vatican on June 28. The meeting lasted about 40 minutes.

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n late June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where they discussed issues such as climate change, migration, and geopolitical hot spots, reported CNS. The Vatican provided few details about the 40-minute meeting, but Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the pope recalled his 2015 visit to the United States and expressed “his affection and concern for the people of the United States of America.”

At a press briefing following the meeting, Blinken said, “We covered a lot of ground, and I certainly don’t want to speak for His Holiness, but, just speaking for myself and speaking for the United States, I was very gratified by the meeting and gratified as well by the strong leadership of His Holiness on the pandemic, on climate change,” and on the issue of migrants and refugees.

At the end of their meeting, Blinken presented the pope with a sculpture of a dove holding an olive branch, which he said was a symbol “of peace and freedom.” The pope gave Blinken a bas-relief depicting a mother with a child in her arms at the entrance to the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square.

Behind her are migrants in a boat on the water while two hands are joined in front of the mother and child. Engraved beneath the image are the words “Riempiamo le mani di altre mani” (“Let’s fill our hands with other hands”). The pope also gave Blinken hardbound copies of his encyclicals and apostolic exhortations.

This was the pope’s second meeting with an official of the Biden administration. In May, he met with John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 7

people | events | trends

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USCCB GENERAL SECRETARY RESIGNS FOLLOWING ALLEGATIONS

ollowing allegations of “possible improper Church and provides news and analysis, said it behavior,” Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill, the general contacted the USCCB and Msgr. Burrill regardsecretary of the United States Conference of ing evidence the news outlet claimed to have “of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), resigned on July 20, a pattern of sexual misconduct on Burrill’s part.” according to a statement from the conference.

The outlet stated, “An analysis of app data In the statement, Archbishop José Gómez, signals correlated to Burrill’s mobile device president of the conference, said: “On Monday, shows the priest also visited gay bars and private we became aware of impending media reports residences while using a location-based hookup alleging possible improper behavior by Msgr. app in numerous cities from 2018 to 2020, even Burrill. What was shared with us did not while traveling on assignment for the US bishinclude allegations of misconduct with minors. ops’ conference.”

However, in order to avoid becoming a disMany have questioned the ethics of the Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill traction to the operations and ongoing work Pillar’s actions. According to its website, the of the conference, [the] monsignor has resigned effecPillar is “a Catholic media project focused on smart, faithtive immediately.” ful, and serious journalism, from committed and informed The Pillar, an online outlet that covers the Catholic Catholics who love the Church.”

Members of the search and rescue team in Surfside, Florida, stand during a moment of silence on July 7 at the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse.

AN ESTIMATED 8,000 people gathered in Garden Grove, California, on July 17 for the unveiling of a shrine to Our Lady of La Vang. The shrine represents the apparition of Mary to a group of persecuted Vietnamese Catholics in 1798 in a rainforest of Vietnam. Since then, Our Lady of La Vang has represented hope, faith, and promise to Vietnamese Catholics around the world.

ON JULY 2, Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, Boston Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, and Father Juan Sosa, pastor of St. Joseph Church, which is close to the site of the Champlain Towers South, visited the informal Wall of Remembrance memorial for the victims of the collapse in Surfside, Florida.

A total of 98 people were confirmed dead from the collapse of the building, which occurred early in the morning of June 24.

IN EARLY JULY, the Diocese of Fargo added the late Bishop James S. Sullivan to its list of clergy with credible accusations of sexual misconduct with a minor. The move took place after the diocese was informed by the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, that an investigation of accusations of sexual misconduct with a minor from decades ago made against him were deemed credible. Bishop Sullivan, who died in 2006, was ordained as a priest for the Lansing Diocese in 1955.

8 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

THE PUBLIC RELIGION RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PRRI) released the report “The 2020 Census of American Religion” on July 8.

The report, which is based on interviews with over 500,000 respondents between 2013 and 2020, “provides the most detailed estimates of American religious affiliation since the US Census Bureau last collected religious data in 1957,” according to a PRRI news release.

CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT AND INSET: TYLER ORSBURN (2); TOP FAR RIGHT: COURTESY THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

The Shrine to Our Lady of La Vang was unveiled on July 17 in Garden Grove, California. Around 8,000 people attended the event.

CNS PHOTOS: TOP: BOB ROLLER; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY TORRENCE ARCHITECTS; LOWER RIGHT: MIAMI-DADE FIRE RESCUE/REUTERS

NEWS BRIEFS

THE WIZARD OF OZ DRESS FOUND AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

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his past summer, the iconic blue gingham dress worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was discovered in the Catholic University of America’s drama department. The dress, which had been missing for decades, was found in a trash bag stashed high in a theater department’s office during preparations for renovation work on the university’s Hartke Theatre.

A department faculty member sorting through things noticed the bag. Inside it was a green shoesized box that contained the dress.

The dress had been given to Dominican Father Gilbert Hartke—founder of the drama department and namesake of its theater—in 1972. The piece, one of six original dresses believed to be in existence, was a gift from Mercedes McCambridge, an actress and friend of Garland’s, who was artist-inresidence at the university from 1972 to 1973.

School archivists are currently planning longterm conservation of the dress, which they say is too valuable to put on display.

The dress worn by Judy Garland in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz was recently discovered in the drama department of the Catholic University of America. The dress had been given to Dominican Gilbert Hartke, seen above holding the dress, in 1972.

BISHOPS OFFER SUPPORT TO INVESTIGATION

CNS PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT AND INSET: TYLER ORSBURN (2); TOP FAR RIGHT: COURTESY THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

CNS PHOTOS: TOP: BOB ROLLER; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY TORRENCE ARCHITECTS; LOWER RIGHT: MIAMI-DADE FIRE RESCUE/REUTERS

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n late June, the US bishops offered their support for an investigation by the US Department of the Interior into former federally funded boarding schools to search for graves of Native American children. The investigation, called the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, comes following the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential schools in Canada, reported CNS. Many of these government-funded boarding schools were administerd by the Church.

A spokesperson for the US bishops said, “It is important to understand what might have occurred here in the United States,” adding that the bishops will “look for ways to be of assistance.”

In announcing the investigation, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said: “I know that this process will be long and difficult. I know that this process will be painful. It won’t undo the heartbreak and loss we feel. But only by acknowledging the past can we work toward a future that we’re all proud to embrace.” Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and is Catholic.

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, based in Minneapolis, has identified 367 “historically assimilative Indian boarding schools that operated in the United States between approximately 1870 until 1970,” but it has been able to locate records from only 38 percent of these schools.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 9

SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN

By Pat McCloskey, OFM

Celebrating the Mass in Latin

The other day at Mass, someone told me that the pope has said that priests can no longer celebrate Mass in Latin. Is that true? o. The Novus Ordo Missae, authorized by St. Paul VI in 1969 and implemented in 1970, can still be celebrated in Latin. Since 1970, all the popes in public Masses in St. Peter’s have used this form of the Mass.

At issue here are the conditions under which the Tridentine Mass (authorized in 1570

by St. Pius V) can be celebrated and who supervises it.

Through “Traditionis Custodes” (“Guardians of Tradition”), a motu proprio dated July 16, Pope Francis annulled similar documents issued by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI that loosened restrictions on celebrating the Tridentine Mass in Latin. Local bishops now have full authority to oversee its use.

An item in Church in the News on page 6 of this issue gives more details about this motu proprio and the papal letter explaining it (both published at vatican.va).

After consulting the world’s bishops about the long-term effects of these two papal decisions, Pope Francis wrote, “An opportunity offered by St. John Paul II and, with even greater magnanimity, by Benedict XVI, intended to recover the unity of an ecclesial body with diverse liturgical sensibilities was exploited to widen the gaps, reinforce the divergences, and encourage disagreements that injure the Church, block her path, and expose her to the peril of division.”

St. Paul rebuked Christians in Corinth who divided that Church by claiming to belong to Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ (1 Cor 1:12–13). Pope Francis wants to prevent something similar from happening to the Mass.

Father Pat welcomes your questions!

ONLINE: FranciscanMedia.org/ Ask-a-Franciscan EMAIL: Ask@FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Ask a Franciscan 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 All questions sent by mail need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Jews and the Death Penalty

?

The Jewish leaders brought Jesus before Pilate because they said their law would not allow them to put anyone to death.

However, earlier in the same Gospel, they were planning to stone a woman caught in adultery. Wasn’t this a death sentence?

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WE HAVE A DIGITAL archive of past Q & As. To get started, go to FranciscanMedia.org/ St-Anthony-Messenger/ Ask-Archives.

Material is grouped thematically under headings such as forgiveness, prayer, saints, sacraments, and Scripture.

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he earlier incident occurs in John 8:1–10. The second one appears in John 18:28–32. Regarding the woman caught in the act of adultery, the procurator was perhaps not in Jerusalem then. That may also have been the case when a group of Jews stoned St. Stephen to death outside Jerusalem (Acts 7:54–60).

Regarding the death of Jesus, the Roman procurator (Pontius Pilate) was already in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, the most likely time for any insurrection. Jewish authorities did not dare to execute Jesus while Pilate was in Jerusalem.

The Romans reserved capital punishment to themselves in order to demonstrate their control of a conquered people. Even so, that law could not be enforced in all places at all times.

10 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

ISTOCK IMAGES: TOP: MARGARITA BALASHOVA/NASA; BOTTOM: BBOSTJAN

Pat McCloskey, OFM

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Salvation for Extraterrestrials?

Programs on TV and newspaper or magazine articles about UFOs and life on other planets have caused me to ask: Did Jesus visit them also and die again on the cross to free them from sin? I don’t know what we should believe about UFOs and life on other planets. od is in charge of the entire cosmos (everything created). The Bible describes salvation only for humans on planet Earth. We are free to speculate on various possibilities—as long as that speculation does not cause us to neglect our present responsibilities.

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Reflects Your Values

Were All the Evangelists Literate?

A woman friend of mine believes that Matthew and Luke were literate but that Mark and John were not. Is that true? o, it is not. We are not positive that the people we identify as the writers of the Bible’s four Gospels, in fact, were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These links come only in the second century AD. Whoever wrote each of these Gospels, however, was certainly literate.

The Church’s acceptance of these four Gospels into the New Testament canon (list of books) depended only on their content, not on their presumed authors.

Otherwise, the Gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdalene—and others with similarly impressive titles—would be part of the New Testament.

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Wearing a Tau Cross

As a layperson not belonging to the Secular Franciscan Order, am I allowed to wear a Tau cross? Can I wear it with knots? Because I have not taken the same vows, I’m not sure if it’s proper for me to wear the knots. es, you can wear that cross—with or without knots on the cord to which it is attached.

A few years ago, I was in Franciscan Media’s booth at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, California.

That year we were giving away Tau crosses on cords. On the second day, someone complained bitterly that we should not be doing that because this person received the Tau cross only after completing the Secular Franciscan novitiate.

Although the Tau cross existed before St. Francis of Assisi, he popularized its use toward the end of his life. He also warned his friars as a general rule not to “appropriate” things. No one has exclusive rights over a certain type of cross. If you wear any type of cross, let it remind you of Jesus’ great love and also inspire loving words and actions on your part.

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Leave a legacy of mercy, compassion, and care for the poor through a bequest to our friars.

For more information about including a gift in your will, call 513-721-4700 ext. 3219.

You are the heart of our ministry.

The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St, Ste 1 Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 friarworks@franciscan.org

www.franciscan.org www.stanthony.org

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 11

SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS

By Janice Lane Palko

ou can think about a vocation, keeping it all in your schools. “During that time, I had the opportunity to interact head,” says Father Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv. with priests and seminarians, and I was invited to a Come “I remember watching videos about what it’s like to be a and See Retreat at St. John Seminary in Boston,” Father priest—and that’s fine—but there comes a moment when you Manny recalls. “This was a diocesan formation seminary, have to step out and experience what it may be like to live a and I kept sensing that I was being called to a community. I vocation.” Father Manny, as he is more commonly known, felt a natural connection to the Franciscan friars. I thought currently serves as associate pastor at St. Anne I needed to be in community with others, Parish in Columbus, Georgia. to have others to keep me accountable, and Though he ministers in Georgia now, to have somewhat of a family life.” He also Father Manny’s spiritual journey began in the credits St. Anthony for drawing him to the Azores, the islands in the Atlantic off the coast Franciscans: “He is my patron and is most of Portugal, where his parents were born. In commonly known as St. Anthony of Padua, but 1971, his parents immigrated to New Bedford, he is actually Portuguese—from Lisbon.”

Massachusetts, bringing with them their He approached the Franciscans who served deep Catholic faith, which they shared with at his parish in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and their children. Father Manny was born in the the vocational director extended an invitaFather Emanuel United States. tion for him to come and explore. “It felt like a “I have two older sisters, and once I was first date,” Father Manny remembers. “I got all Vasconcelos, OFM Conv born and even before I was baptized, my parents took me to dressed up and went there, and it was wonderful. I felt so at Mass since they were both lectors,” says Father Manny. “My ease. I could be honest and be myself. There was no pressure, mom did the first reading, and then my dad handed me off and I came away very energized.” He became a Franciscan to my mom so that he could do the second reading.” postulant in August 2010 and began attending Washington He attended Providence College in Rhode Island, which Theological Union in Washington, DC. His novitiate was was founded by in Mishawaka, Dominican friIndiana, and he ars. While there professed his first he began to think vows in July 2012. about becomHe graduated ing a priest. “I with a master of have always had divinity degree a desire to serve from Catholic and have found University of joy serving in America in May the Church,” says 2018 and was Father Manny. ordained a priest “I had helped in June 2018 in out with retreats Buffalo, New York. and had been “My family around diocwas very supesan priests and portive; they saw Franciscans, but my calling before Father Emanuel “Manny” Vasconcelos, OFM Conv, marks a young parishioner’s forehead with ashes.

I wasn’t exactly I did,” says Father sure where I Manny, who would fit best. It was during my time at Providence and points out that, like him, his parents also had to grow into his interacting with others that I was able to grow, understand, vocation. “One day when I was home, I told my mom, ‘I’m and own my faith.” going to be a Franciscan,’” he recalls. “She exclaimed, ‘What?

While at Providence College, Father Manny got involved You’re going to Africa?’ I told her I could go to Africa, but in a program called PACT—Providence Alliance for Catholic that wasn’t my plan. In the Azores, the only Franciscans she Teachers—that allows participants to pursue a master’s knew of were the missionaries who visited their parish from in education and teach in Catholic elementary and high Angola or Mozambique.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF FATHER EMANUEL VASCONCELOS, OFM CONV

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Growing into the Call to Religious Life

ST. ANTHONY

BREAD

FRANK JASPER, OFM

The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation.

At St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School, Father Manny joins in the fun during Mardi Gras in early 2020.

The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FATHER EMANUEL VASCONCELOS, OFM CONV

Father Manny celebrates Mass at St. Anne Church in Columbus, Georgia, where he is an associate pastor.

“I think when they came and met the friars, it put their minds at ease. I remember when I was leaving for Mishawaka being at the airport and my parents saying goodbye to me. The hugs they gave were an unspoken assurance that they were supportive of my vocation.”

Father Manny’s first assignment was to St. Anne’s Parish in Columbus, Georgia.

“It was a nervous time for us as well as the parishioners. This was a new ministry, and we were the first friars to serve there, but it has been wonderful. I recall sitting at Mass one Sunday and looking out and realizing I knew the names of all those sitting in the pews.”

He also ministers at Columbus State University. In the heart of the Bible Belt, a Franciscan habit can sometimes cause confusion. “One of the Catholic students told me that one day when I was walking on campus she overheard two students talking, and one of the students said, ‘Dude, don’t look now, but there’s a pope walking toward you.’”

Having been ordained for three years, there is one thing that has made an impression on him. “What has surprised me is the level of trust that people give to you,” says Father Manny. “I’m honored. It’s not me. It’s that people need a priest.”

Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week. viSit our webSite to:

StAnthony.org mAil poStAl communicAtionS to:

St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 13

SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS “To think is to do.”

—Motto of Mother Alfred Moes

Rochester, Minnesota

By Pat McCloskey, OFM

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he Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes, began in 1877 when Mother Alfred Moes, along with 24 sisters from Joliet, Illinois, left to form a congregation in Rochester, Minnesota.

They founded a school, the Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes, which was immediately successful. By 1883, the sisters were teaching in 12 schools in Ohio, Kentucky, and Minnesota.

That same year, when a tornado killed 37 people in Rochester and injured many more, the sisters temporarily transformed their school into a makeshift hospital. Mother Alfred Moes, the very enterprising general superior, convinced Dr. William Worrall Mayo that the sisters would build a hospital if he would establish his practice there with his sons, Drs. Will and Charlie Mayo. The fact that Dr. Mayo was Protestant proved no obstacle to Mother Alfred’s plans.

St. Mary’s Hospital was founded in 1889. This enterprise eventually evolved into the worldfamous Mayo Clinic.

Today the sisters work in education, pastoral and social concerns, health-care services, and spirituality initiatives. They serve in 15 US dioceses and in Colombia.

The congregation can be contacted at RochesterFranciscans.org.

A statue of St. Francis stands on the grounds of the Assisi Heights Spirituality Center in Rochester.

ST. ANTHONY STORIES

A+ for St. Anthony

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t was the day after the last day of school and my friend Helen was clearing out her classroom. The last thing she had to do was turn in her gradebook and the key to the classroom to the principal. The gradebook was ready to go, but she could not find the key. She had looked in every drawer, shelf, and cupboard without success. At noon she went home for lunch—she lived just across the street—and looked through every coat pocket and drawer. She said a prayer to St. Anthony and thought, I haven’t looked in the clothes hamper. When she looked, there was the key at the very bottom.

She said a quick prayer of thanksgiving and was almost out the door when the phone rang. The call was from the St. Anthony Spirituality Center in nearby Marathon, Wisconsin, asking if she could donate toward the cost of roof repairs to the seminary building. Well, that was probably the first time the caller had heard good-natured laughter in response to a request for a donation. I believe she donated.

—Joan C., Mosinee, Wisconsin

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MOTHER ALFRED MOES

Often misunderstood, she persevered in doing what she felt God was calling her to do.

BORN IN Luxembourg, she entered a religious community there and then two others in the United States before 1865, when she became one of the founding members of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate (Joliet, Illinois).

In 1877, she helped found the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes (Rochester, Minnesota).

In response to the 1883 tornado that struck Rochester, she established St. Mary’s Hospital, which later became part of the world-famous Mayo Clinic.

She died in 1899.

—Pat McCloskey, OFM

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WANT MORE? Learn about your favorite saints and blesseds by going to: SaintoftheDay.org

LEFT: COURTESY OF SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS ROCHESTER, MN; LOWER LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; RIGHT: COURTESY MAYO FOUNDATION

FRANCISCAN WORLD

POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL

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9/11: Looking Back, Moving Forward

t’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since 9/11. It seems like only yesterday and yet a lifetime ago. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives—in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania—and the shadow of that day looms still. As we mark this anniversary, we asked three people these questions: What are your thoughts on where we as a nation have been, and what is your prayer for where are going?

Here are their answers.

‘PEACE BE UPON YOU’

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was a senior in high school on 9/11, and, oddly enough, I was in a class called 20th-Century History when the towers came down. Our teacher, keenly aware that what was happening was a world-changing type of event, rolled out a cart with a television on it and tuned in to the live news coverage. I’ll never forget what he said that day: “What we’re seeing now is 21stcentury history.”

He was right, and, sadly, it was just the beginning. The brief moment of unity many of us felt in the first few weeks after 9/11 quickly dissipated, our country was at war, and xenophobia and Islamophobia intensified. I found myself struggling with the question of how justice could be rendered without perpetuating cycles of violence and hatred. Jesus’ words to the disciples in John 20:19 gently guide us to the only right way to respond: “Peace be with you.”

Strikingly similar are the words of the standard greeting among Muslims: As-Salaam-Alaikum, or “Peace be upon you.” My prayer for the world, now 20 years after the events of 9/11, is that we dig deep and resist the temptation to be vengeful and violent, seemingly justified by grief and indignation. May we warmly embrace our brothers and sisters from other faiths in the same spirit of that Arabic greeting, which so closely mirrors the words of Christ.

—Daniel Imwalle

THE SLOW WORK OF GOD

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s I reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Teilhard de Chardin’s prayer “Patient Trust” grounds me: “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.” I’m drawn to the story of the scarred “Survivor Tree.” A few brutal months after the September attack, a mangled pear tree, still living, was wrenched from the ashes of the fallen buildings and given to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

True to God’s slow work, after nearly a decade, in 2010, the tree had been nurtured enough to be replanted near where the Twin Towers once loomed.

Three years after that, in 2013, its new branches were strong enough to give seedlings to the newly wounded places in our world. Recipients of these tiny new pear trees include the shattered landscapes of mass shootings, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, and bombings. No matter the horrific struggles still smoldering, the tree we turn to, Christ’s cross, can be seen as the original Survivor Tree.

The ache of 9/11 will never fade. It shouldn’t fade. But we can find hope and resilience in the trees cycling through season after season as years pass. At this 20th anniversary of such darkness, we can trust the slow work of an orchard growing, of buds growing brighter, opening into blossoms. The slow work of God. —Maureen O’Brien

NEVER FORGOTTEN

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ours after the second tower in New York City fell, a television reporter from one of the networks approached a woman on a street in Paris for her reaction to the terrorist attacks earlier that day. She offered a broken smile and said, “Today we are all Americans.” It was a singular comment from a nameless person in Europe, but there was a sense that the international community wanted to shoulder some of the pain. We weren’t a collection of disparate countries, but one wounded world.

After the dust settled, two wars followed—and our reputation within that international community suffered.

Our own behaviors shifted as well.

Over the ensuing years, unfamiliarity with Islam made way for something far more dangerous: suspicion. But as Christians, we are called to love our neighbors. There is very little room for negotiations there.

My prayer is that we model our behavior on St. Francis of Assisi, who was unintimidated by wars and battle lines to build peace with the sultan. I pray that we remember the people who lost their lives on 9/11. I pray, especially, that we meditate on these words from Pope Francis, who commemorated their sacrifice: “The names of so many loved ones are written around the towers’ footprints. We can see them, we can touch them, and we can never forget them.”

—Christopher Heffron

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.

As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

—John 13:34

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 15

POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH

By Kyle Kramer

Making Room for Simplicity

Kyle Kramer

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WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org

ost of us have at least some inkling that planet. In the first part of the book, I reflect our world faces significant challenges, on four reasons why Christians (and others both now and in the near future. And though with spiritual commitments) might choose to it’s tempting to blame the greedy business adopt simpler lifestyles. executives, the filthy rotten “system” (however I start with the assumption that we all you define that), or the other political party, want to be happy and content—but that we most of us also have an uneasy concern that tend to fill our lives with unneeded clutter we each bear some responsibility. At the same and complexity, which bring us the exact time, I think many of us also opposite: overwork, exhaushave the nagging sense that tion, anxiety, debt, and loss our own lives may be missing of self-worth, among othsomething, are way too full of ers. Adopting practices of Simplicity offers things that aren’t life-giving— simplicity can help untangle a path toward or perhaps both. us from these challenges a deeper and It’s one thing to have so that we can live a more those feelings; it’s another centered, sane, and rewarding more authentic to discern, in a faithful and life, with less stress and with spirituality. honest way, what kinds of more time, freedom, pleasure, choices might contribute and satisfaction. to the healing of the world Simplicity also offers a and to a more personally path toward a deeper and fulfilling life. It’s out of those feelings and more authentic spirituality. At its core, spirthat discernment that I wrote Making Room: ituality doesn’t mean adding a bunch of stuff Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living, to your life. As many mystics and spiritual which was published earlier this summer by masters have taught us, it’s more about subFranciscan Media. tracting whatever gets in the way of a healthy My goal in writing this book was to relationship with God and others. To put it explore how to bring greater intentionality to another way, simplifying your external life the magnificent task of simplifying our lives can be an important aid to simplifying your so we can experience more personal satisfacinternal life, so that you can be more present, tion, freedom, and joy, but also so we can help humble, and grateful, and less encumbered support healthy communities and a healthy by ego-drive.

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EarthandSpiritCenter.org

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TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; TOP: SPOOH/ISTOCK

Kyle is the executive director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, which offers interfaith educational programming in meditation, ecology, and social compassion.

He serves as a Catholic climate ambassador for the US Conference of Catholic Bishopssponsored Catholic Climate Covenant and is the author of Making Room: Soul-Deep Satisfaction through Simple Living (Franciscan Media, 2021). He speaks across the country on issues of ecology and spirituality.

He and his family spent 15 years as organic farmers and homesteaders in Spencer County, Indiana.

SIMPLICITY FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS

These first two reasons for simplifying our lives have to do with our own personal growth and contentment. The other two have to do with how our actions connect with the wider world. Simplicity can invite us into solidarity and friendship with those who are poor, which is not only an act of justice and service, but another means of growing closer to God, who has a special love for the poor. Simplicity also helps us to not only be less harmful and destructive toward our planet, but also to grow in love for the earth by removing some of the layers of insulation that our busy lives place between us and the rest of the natural world.

If simplifying our lives can lead to more pleasure and satisfaction, greater spiritual maturity, and a caring connection to others and the earth, then how can we move toward it? Various areas of our lives present us opportunities for simplicity.

Dealing well with money is one of the most challenging and substantial ways to live out our values and to make room for simplicity in our lives. Money is a powerful energy force, and we can save, spend, and share it in a way that moves us from a fear of scarcity to a sense of sufficiency and abundance, which is the source of true wealth and freedom.

Work—whether paid or not—is another crucial arena where we can become our best selves, lean into our interdependence with others, and provide goods and services that are beautiful and useful. But play is just as important. We can make room for play, which we know how to do exquisitely well as kids but often forget in adulthood—even though play throughout our life span is an essential part of flourishing.

Fortunately, play doesn’t have to entail expensive vacations or owning powerboats—it’s easy to do it close to home, within modest means.

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MANY WAYS TO SIMPLIFY

Consider all the stuff we purchase, and what it might look like to truly and deeply appreciate the material world as the place where God is deeply incarnate—and, therefore, not fill our lives (and our landfills) with junk. Instead, we can choose to have fewer, higher-quality things that serve us, rather than enslave us.

Most of us are deeply ensnared by smartphones, email, social media, streaming services, and other types of technology, so we must learn how we can successfully navigate the brave new digital world. By drawing good boundaries, we can benefit from the gifts of modern technology but still

have the freedom to work in distraction-free flow states and to craft our time in life-giving ways.

Finally, simplifying our lives can help us lean into our interdependent relationships with one another and the rest of the natural world. In some ways—like in the arena of food and cooking—simplicity might actually seem more complicated in the beginning, but embracing our relational nature can be a beautiful, intentional path to becoming our best selves.

My book isn’t a book of answers and prescriptions, but an exploration by a fellow pilgrim who is trying to live a faithful, free, satisfying life. If you choose to read it, I hope it brings you closer to joy and flourishing, which is your divine birthright.

HELPFUL

TIPS

MORE WAYS TO PARE DOWN

1

Money isn’t the only way to exchange goods and services. Choose a period of time—a week is good—when you decide to minimize your use of money. What creativity does it awaken in you? What connections with others does it nurture? What are the challenges and satisfactions?

2

Try to create and preserve regular, sizable blocks of time when you are completely away from digital devices and their content.

Acknowledge the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) anxiety it creates, but stay with the discomfort, and pay attention to how it feels to have those breaks.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 17

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Falling in love is easy; staying in love takes work. Here are five practices to strengthen the bonds of marriage.

By Shannon K. Evans

our marriages, and we should never resolve to settle for less than God’s deepest desire for us.

Most couples benefit from marriage counseling at some point in their lives, no matter how healthy they believe their relationships to be. But aside from the important step of seeking professional guidance, there are plenty of smaller ways we can address the challenges in married life and see our homes transformed into a place where both spouses can not only survive, but truly thrive.

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arriage can be the most gratifying relationship in our lives—but it can also be the most challenging.

Even well-matched and committed couples experience real hardship during the course of their lives: Circumstances become overwhelming, partnerships can be exhausting, and raising children elevates the stress felt by everyone.

Without reliable tools in your marital toolbox, it’s all too easy to feel resentful of and distant from the very person to whom you pledged your life. But resentment and distance do not reflect the heart of God for

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Spotting the most obvious needs in our homes on any given day is never a hard task: Get the kids to school, buy groceries, make medical appointments, get your work done, and the list goes on. Tangible needs are easy to check off a list, and meeting them gives us a sense of accomplishment.

Taking care of daily minutiae is one thing, but it can be harder to attend to our more personal needs with the same immediacy. After all, keeping our preschoolers updated on their vaccines is a more straightforward task than, say, spending a half hour in prayer or figuring out when on earth to exercise. The demands of child-rearing, work, caring for aging parents, or just regular old life have a way of eating up most of our free time.

But when we make a habit of ignoring our own inner needs for the sake of our families, the results can be disastrous. If family life keeps us from feeling like a whole, balanced individual with a healthy mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical life, eventually we begin to place the blame on the person closest to us: our spouse.

This was the case for me a few years ago. Our marriage was limping along, and I had Since change is a a pesky habit of blaming my fact of life, a marhusband, Eric, for every frustration and grievance I felt. riage can often When my spiritual director hinge on both guided me to identify and spouses’ willingvoice my unmet needs, it ness to evolve was like a light came on in and grow alongmy brain. Armed with a new side the other. self-awareness, I began advocating for my own well-being rather than drowning in the needs of my family. I gradually stopped feeling resentful when my husband expressed his needs, because I had committed to communicating and prioritizing my own too.

As I learned to slow down, check in with myself, and identify what I needed to really thrive, I fell in love with my husband all over again for his commitment to helping meet my needs for time away from the kids, physical exercise, and spiritual nourishment. As is so often the case with demonstrated love, the more he responded in support for me, the more I sincerely wanted to support him too. We by no means have a perfect rhythm, but now that we are more proactive about communicating our needs and making plans to have them met, we are healthier individuals, a healthier couple, and healthier parents for our children.

Families these days are balancing different dynamics than in generations past: Often both parents are employed, children are involved in more extracurricular activities, and time spent with the kids is more evenly distributed between mom and dad. Still, many of us are stuck in outdated ideas about the distribution of household chores. Human nature seems to slump back into “how it’s always been done” rather than thinking outside the box about what systems might work best.

After more than a decade of cooking dinner night after night, I finally faced the fact that I had come to deplore this evening ritual. It was making me frustrated and grumpy, and I was resorting to increasingly unhealthy meals just to put something on the table. Finally, Eric and I realized this was ridiculous. He enjoys cooking and has always done it here and there when he could, but once we sat down and reimagined how to navigate the division of household labor, we realized that most nights he could tweak his schedule and make it home in time to cook. So we simply switched roles: He now does the meal preparation, and I’m now in charge of kitchen cleanup afterward.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 19

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When we take our wedding vows, most of us young and starry-eyed, we have no concept of just how long “the rest of our lives” is really going to feel. So much can shift for a couple in even one year, much less 50, and it can be scary to figure out how to change together without growing apart.

Since change is a fact of life, a marriage can often hinge on both spouses’ willingness to evolve and grow alongside the other. Marriage partners must be committed to riding the

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

At my bridal shower nearly 15 years ago, the married women in attendance were invited to share advice that might be helpful as I entered into this lifelong commitment. I’m sure I was given plenty of sage advice that day, but the only thing I remember came from an aunt who had lived out a lovely marriage to my uncle for two decades and counting. Her advice was to have a date night once a month to focus on nurturing your partnership in the midst of the craziness of life and child-rearing.

Rather than humble receptivity, my reaction was more aghast. A date only once a month? Not us! We’ll be having a date night once a week, thank you very much. And we did just that—until we started having kids, when suddenly all my smug certainty flew out the window, and I saw how wise my aunt’s advice really was. It’s easy to go on regular dates when you are young and life is unrushed and carefree; but prioritizing connection and romance after years of monotony, hectic schedules, and parenting responsibilities takes a good deal of intentionality.

As is the case for many couples, date night often feels like a luxury we can’t afford. Paying a babysitter on top of dinner and a movie makes for an expensive undertaking—and that’s if we can even find a sitter who is willing to watch five kids!

These days, the stars rarely align for that kind of indulgence.

But Eric and I have perfected the art of the at-home date night: We put the kids to bed early, pour ourselves some grown-up drinks, and sit on the couch for thoughtful conversation followed by a good movie.

It’s no replacement for a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant—and we still like to do that here and there when we can—but carving out special time to connect in our native

habitat has a special charm of its own. It reminds us in the most mundane, familiar environment that we still have that old spark: We still like each other, we still make each other laugh, we still marvel at each other’s thoughts and ideas. And it reminds us that long after the kids are grown and out of the house, we’ll still have our best friend by our side.

CNS PHOTO/LISA JOHNSTON/ST. LOUIS REVIEW

We’ve renegotiated other household chores as well. Some of the more traditional arrangements still work well for us: Eric is the one who mows the lawn, while I do most of the laundry. But the brunt of housework is simply done by the one who remembers it: He tends to clean the bathroom, while I’m more often the one who takes out the trash. The baby and toddler are inclined to want Mommy, but Daddy oversees piano and skateboarding lessons for the big kids.

Much has been said about dignifying women with equality in the home, but we tend to overlook the fact that breaking from gender stereotypes can be a freeing experience for men too. Our families function best when household labor is distributed according to what actually works for each unique family, not according to what fits a preestablished mold. It can and should look different within different homes.

waves that come: jobs lost or promotions earned, babies born or deaths grieved, faith lost or abilities impaired. All our life experiences serve to form us into someone slightly different than the person we were at our wedding ceremony. And while change can sometimes be fun and even unitive, more often humans experience change as threatening, disorienting, even deeply painful.

Eric and I started out in marriage taking the same approach to our faith. Over the years, the way we expressed that faith began to look very different. Initially, this was confusing and even a little scary as we struggled to feel unified within our differences. We worried that we were drifting apart; we worried about what that meant for the future.

But we found that change is not the end of the story.

Eventually we learned to trust each other more and to trust God’s involvement in our lives. Through that trust, along with self-discovery and open communication, we eventually came to the healthiest place we’d ever been, both individually and as a couple. We’ve found that the most important thing is not to stay exactly the same as we were when we first met, but to be willing to appreciate the ongoing discovery of the person each of us is becoming.

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

CNS PHOTO/LISA JOHNSTON/ST. LOUIS REVIEW

While individuality is important, our marriages will flounder if we do not also possess the deep connection and unity that come with seeking a higher purpose together. When the busyness of everyday life makes our world feel small and insular, it’s easy to get sucked into the mentality that our problems are of utmost importance. By contrast, when our marriages serve a greater good or sense of mission, we gain perspective and can see our place in the world with gratitude and purpose.

Sometimes there are seasons of life when the best we can do is simply care for the people immediately in front of us.

But those seasons are not permanent, and finding ways to get involved in communities, programs, or volunteer opportunities as a couple or family can draw us closer together as we seek to build a more beautiful world.

My family does not always have a surplus of time and energy to expend outside the walls of our home. Even

“It’s true that there are difficulties, there are problems with children or with the couple themselves, arguments and fights . . . but you can overcome, you can overcome, you can overcome. And this is not only a sacrament for them, but also for the Church, a sacrament, as it were, that attracts attention: ‘See, love is possible!’ And love is capable of allowing you to live your whole life ‘in love’: in joy and in sorrow, with the problems of children, and their own problems . . . but always going forward.

In sickness and in health, but always going forward. This is beautiful.”

—Homily at Casa Santa Marta, May 2018

so, we’ve tried to prioritize serving others as best we can, whether that be community outreach to the marginalized, college student ministry at our parish, or hosting holiday gatherings for those who might be feeling lonely. Our involvement in community service has ebbed and flowed at different points over the years, but it’s always something we insist on returning to together.

Do we hope our efforts positively impact the world around us? Of course. But we also know that’s not the only measure of success. Looking outward as a couple creates a deeper bond between us and propels us to love the world that extends far beyond our little home.

Committing to a shared mission together makes our marriage more transformative—for us and for everyone we meet.

Shannon K. Evans is a mother of five and author who has written numerous articles for St. Anthony Messenger, including “Five Ways to Pray with Your Body” in the May 2021 issue. To learn more about Shannon and her work, visit ShannonKEvans.com.

Priscilla and Aquila, friends of St. Paul • Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Magdalena Son So-Byok and Peter Choe Chang-hub, martyrs Basil and Emilia, parents of St. Basil the Great • Maura and Timothy, martyrs StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 21

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Over 1,200 responses poured in when we surveyed how the coronavirus pandemic impacted people’s faith and religious practices. Here is what we discovered.

By Daniel Imwalle

I

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solation and connection. Fear and courage. Despair and hope. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the extremes of the human experience. It sparked an existential crisis at a societal level across the globe and witnessed wildly different approaches from world leaders on how to contain the spread. The eeriness of Pope Francis offering a special blessing in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Square will remain a haunting reminder of how quickly and severely the pandemic’s grip tightened.

The devastation brought on by the pandemic took shape in numerous ways, from the mind-numbing death toll (at the time of this writing, 611,007 in the United States and over 4.1 million globally) to widespread social isolation and a rapid shift to virtual life. Many religious practices continued online but felt drastically different from their in-person versions, and Catholics were certainly no exception in this massive shift in routine and ritual. We at St. Anthony Messenger wanted to find out how the pandemic affected Catholics’ ability to practice their faith and how faith played a role in dealing with the stress and anxiety felt daily during the crisis.

In a survey that generated over 1,200 replies, anonymous respondents provided feedback that shed light on topics from the experience of virtual Mass to changes in prayer practices. Survey takers shared their stories of love and loss, unemployment, working from home, and even silver linings found during dark times, painting a unique picture of faith under fire.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 23

BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACED DURING THE PANDEMIC:

• Answered: 1,203 • Top five listed below 58% Social isolation 54% Communication with friends and family is harder 42% General anxiety about the impact of coronavirus on my life 23% Keeping a regular schedule 12% Adjusting to a remote workspace

HOW MUCH HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACTED OR AFFECTED YOUR FAITH?

HOW DID THE PANDEMIC IMPACT YOUR FAITH?

frustration. The person stated: “I was incredibly disappointed to see so many Catholics push against general public health meaWe wanted to open the survey up to some sures. Where is our sense of community and firsthand accounts of how the COVID-19 solidarity? We talk all the time about how the pandemic impacted people’s faith. How Church is not a building, but respondents’ faith was affected I heard people say things like, varied, but it’s clear that certain ‘If you don’t come to church, spiritual practices remained “My faith in you’re not a faithful Catholic,’ crucial. One person wrote: “We ‘We can’t let fear run our lives,’ took our first Bible study class.

God did not or ‘It only affects the sick and It was offered by our parish waver. But my old.’ It was very disheartening.” and livestreamed. We streamed faith in the daily and Sunday Mass and Catholic Church found we could concentrate MASS ON A SCREEN has suffered. more without being distracted.

One of the most noticeable There was no I think we found more peace ways the pandemic changed outreach for with the silence of our home.” how we practiced our faith was Another respondent offered: the rapid transition to virtual those of us who “There has been an intense Mass (along with other online are elderly and deepening in my spiritual versions of gatherings such as alone.” life—especially around trusting sacraments, prayer groups, and God—which has led me to a Bible studies). Many responded completely new place in my with their observations on the life (literally), strengthened friendships, and experience of virtual Mass, what they enjoyed improved mental health. I have welcomed the (or didn’t), what surprised them, and what ways in which restricted access to churches they missed from the live version of worship. have led to a lot more domestic spiritual prac“I really enjoyed finding different parishes tice, to the benefit of individual households and priests and joining their communities,” and the wider neighborhood.” one person stated. “It was sad that our parish The divisiveness among people of faith one didn’t broadcast during the first lockdown. I person witnessed was a source of dismay and was watching daily Mass at one point during

• Answered: 1,212

29%

24%

14%

33%

Very much Somewhat

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Not at all

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A little

HAVE YOU STARTED OR INCREASED ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PRACTICES DURING THE PANDEMIC?

“I chose a parish that I used to belong to because I felt familiar with the pastor. Spiritual communion is better than nothing.”

• Answered: 1,149 • Top five listed below

60% Watching or listening to religious programming

the first lockdown, but I got into bad habits of watching in a dressing gown with a cup of coffee!”

One of the most common—but painful— issues that came with virtual Mass attendance was not being able to physically participate in the Eucharist. “At first, we signed in when Mass was scheduled to begin, but then we learned we could watch whenever we wanted to, which made us lazy again,” one person wrote. “And if I can’t receive the Eucharist, I am still hungry after Mass. It wasn’t fulfilling.”

And like many aspects of the pandemic, the reaction to virtual Mass tended to range from one extreme to another. “I hated it and stopped at Easter,” wrote a respondent. “I go to Mass [in person] a couple times a week

80 70 60

now. We’ve had outdoor, in-person Masses for some time at my parish.” On the other hand, someone else said: “I absolutely love attending Mass virtually. There are less distractions, and I watched Mass televised from various places all over the world. I am reminded that we are all one faith community.”

GUIDING LIGHTS AND PILLARS OF STRENGTH

Depending on whom you ask, the answer to the question of who helped you carry on during the pandemic could range from the very personal to popular spiritual figures of today to saints from hundreds of years ago. Some of the responses included: “my husband and children,” “Father Richard Rohr,” “Relevant

31% Praying the Divine Mercy chaplet 24% Praying together in a group (family, friends, coworkers, fellow parishioners)

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HAVE YOU ATTENDED VIRTUALLY DURING THE PANDEMIC? • Answered: 1,197 • Top five listed below

• Answered: 1,207

26% Prayer group

Prior to Pandenic

40

During Pandemic

30

93% Mass

25% Bible study 19% Parish ministry or outreach 14% A sacrament (e.g., a Baptism or wedding)

20

Did att not end

Ho lid on ays ly

Eve r oft y so en

Mo nth

ly We ek

ily

0

ly

10

Da

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54% Praying the rosary

PRIOR TO AND DURING THE PANDEMIC, I ATTENDED MASS OR CHURCH SERVICES

50

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56% Reading Scripture on my own

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• Answered: 1,212

12% 18% 29% 41% Very worried Somewhat worried A little worried Not at all worried

GOING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE MY FAITH: • Answered: 1,203

28% 5% 1%

43%

23% Very strong Somewhat strong Somewhat weak Very weak No change

Radio,” “a friend who is a Franciscan nun and Pope Francis,” “Dr. Anthony Fauci,” “St. Anthony of Padua,” and, simply but poignantly, “God.” Another person specified a wide assortment of sources of strength: “Pope Francis, Bishop Robert Barron, a friend I’ve prayed with daily, my parish priests, our government and the UK’s National Health Service, the success of the vaccine program, ministers from other Christian Churches, various Twitter accounts, Jim McManus of Public Health Hertfordshire, and the Guild of Health.”

The physical presence of other human beings—even in a masked, socially distanced setting—helped many keep their spirits up, such as the individual who wrote, “For me, it was friends and family who I was still able to see and simply being around other people (at the grocery store, my fellow teachers at school, helping with sack lunches for the homeless).” That sense of group connection extended to those living in religious community as well. One religious sister said: “I drew strength from my religious community—how we responded to the needs of people and also to our elder sisters. One of my sisters did her chaplaincy program online and taught our elder sisters how to use Zoom so they could work with her! I also have looked to Pope Francis as a model of prayer and concern for the global community.”

LESSONS LEARNED IN DARK TIMES

Apart from an exercise in survival, the pandemic was an opportunity to derive some wisdom from living through a global health crisis. For many, those lessons came in the form of a more developed, robust faith.

“Totally rely on the Lord,” one person wrote.

“There were a lot of times I was alone and had no one around.”

Another respondent said: “I focused on my relationship with God, not the Church.

I’m open to exploring worshipping in other Christian faiths and only coming to the Catholic Church for the Eucharist.” For another individual, religion and science went hand in hand in regard to how to power through the crisis: “Do not stop praying, and remember God has this! And believe in the science!” The pandemic brought home the Gospel teaching that we are all a part of the body of Christ for one respondent, who stated: “We all belong to each other. At the

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end of the day, borders and nations have little importance. What affects one affects us all. The principle of solidarity is incredibly important and also lacking in our Catholic Church in places.”

WIDESPREAD GRIEF

We can’t talk about the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic without recognizing the sheer number of deaths it has left in its wake. Many experienced an odd sort of numbness when the death toll went from 100,000 to 200,000, then 400,000 to 500,000, and eventually over 600,000. Time and again, however, this form of emotional detachment quickly crumbled as the personal stories of grief and loss were shared in the news and on social media. Many respondents to our survey bravely wrote about their experiences.

In answering the question “Have you lost someone due to COVID-19?” one woman living in religious community wrote: “Yes, many of my religious sisters. It’s been difficult not to be present at our regular rituals around death.

And when one sister in our retirement center died, I worried so much that the virus would travel, and more would die.”

For thousands of people, not being able to be there with a loved one who was dying was a deeply traumatic experience. In describing the loss of her husband, one woman wrote: “It was an awful experience, especially since I was not allowed to be with my husband in the hospital after the ambulance took him there.

The next time I saw him he was in a coffin.”

Even though this individual responded “No” to the question, the specter of death was disturbingly close. “No, but my brother-in-law was hospitalized for 75 days with COVID-19 and could have died,” the person said. “This made the pandemic very close and real.”

SILVER LININGS AND STEELY FAITH

Despite the overwhelming bleakness of the coronavirus pandemic, there were some welcome bright spots that ultimately carried people through trying times. Even a healthy sense of humor was apparent in one person’s answer to the question “What have you gained during the pandemic?” “Weight” was the person’s single-word answer, followed by a winking emoji.

For some, spirituality provided the fuel to persevere. “I gained a stronger relationship with the Lord. I am making different choices

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HOW WORRIED HAVE YOU BEEN ABOUT THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS ON YOUR PARISH OR FAITH COMMUNITY?

“My father died of COVID-19 in a nursing home, and we were not able to be with him for the last five months of his life. That was absolutely the worst part of the pandemic for me. It was heartbreaking.”

and trying to decide in prayer what I want back in my life and what I want to change,” one respondent reported. Others viewed science with renewed admiration, such as this person, who wrote, “I have a higher regard for scientists and medical professionals, and a greater recognition of the difference intelligent, concerned leadership makes.”

For a good number of survey respondents, a healthier lifestyle came out of their pandemic experience and included a stronger spirituality, improved family relationships, and better physical and mental health. “I resigned from my job to pursue my own business,” recalled one individual. “I prayed, read Scripture, and developed a daily gratitude practice. My marriage is stronger than ever, and together we are working on a healthier lifestyle.”

Another person offered: “I made healthier lifestyle choices, enjoyed extra family time, and took a much-needed breather, for starters. We were so ‘go, go, go’ before. I would say our faith was already strong—we already read Scripture and prayed nightly together—but our faith still grew in sweet ways.”

‘CALLED TO ROW TOGETHER’

From our own personal experiences during the pandemic and as the survey responses reflect, it was a harrowing time punctuated by the stinging loss of loved ones, bitter division in families over politics and the role of science, and daily life in a hushed bubble of isolation. But faith was strengthened for many, relationships salvaged or improved, and exciting new paths in life and career boldly taken. God was there with us all along, and, even if at an awkward distance, we were there for each other.

Early on in the pandemic and not knowing how far into the future we would need to persevere, Pope Francis spoke these words of encouragement during an evening “urbi et orbi” blessing in an almost empty St. Peter’s Square: “We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other.”

Daniel Imwalle is the managing editor of St. Anthony Messenger magazine.

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How the Survey Was Conducted

WE SENT THE SURVEY to a list of 101,777 email recipients (a list composed of subscribers to St. Anthony Messenger and other print and online Franciscan Media materials) via SurveyMonkey and received 1,218 responses, making the margin of error about 2.8 percent at a confidence level of 95 percent. Coming from a wide range of ages, about 73 percent of survey takers were women, while 27 percent were men. All responses were anonymous. Thank you to all who took the time to share their perspective and their personal stories of life and faith during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DURING THIS PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, HOW IMPORTANT HAS PRAYER BEEN IN YOUR LIFE? • Answered: 1,149

1.5%

.5%

9%

89%

Very important Somewhat important A Little important Not important at all

“I have become a Benedictine Oblate during the pandemic.

My husband became one a year before me.

Together, with our community of Benedictine Oblates and the monastery we are associated with, we have found guidance and strength that has carried us through.”

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W

PRAYER, WORSHIP, & SERVICE These three Catholic practices remind us of God’s abiding presence and can help us navigate life’s ups and downs.

By Mary Ann Steutermann

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WHO AM I?

Of course, to “remember” we first must “know.” Who am I? At first glance, science and religion may seem to propose competing viewpoints. Instead, I think they are just different ways of saying the same thing. Science tells us that everything in the universe was born out of a tiny space-time singularity that began the processes known as expansion, nuclear fusion, and evolution that created life as we know it today. Religion tells us that all creation came from the one God who loved us into the fullness of life through processes we call incarnation, salvation, and resurrection. Through either lens, the answer to the question “Who am I?” is the same.

We come from God. We “live and move and have our being” in God. We return to that same God when our time on earth is done.

If this is true for me, then it’s also true for you. All life participates in this divine wholeness. All life is part of God’s life. On some level, we knew this when— and perhaps even before—we were born. We knew that we were not “separate selves.” We were part of this holy Oneness.

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THE POWER OF

ould it be strange to say that one of my favorite parts of the workday as a campus minister at a Catholic high school is the ending of morning announcements? After reports on club meeting dates, sports scores, and reminders about the uniform code, the last thing we hear over the PA at the end of announcements each day is the exact same refrain: “Remember who we are. We are the community of Assumption.”

A former principal of our school started using this mantra because it was a powerful message to her growing up. Whenever she would leave the house—for slumber parties and ball games as a young girl, and for dances and dates as a teen—her mother would remind her to “remember who you are.” It was shorthand for, “Remember who you have been raised to be.

Remember that your words and actions reflect not only on you but on the family who loves and believes in you.

Remember that if anything frightens you or anything dangerous happens, we are just a phone call away.”

Our principal wanted our students to have that same powerful reminder: “You are part of a community who loves and supports and believes in you. No matter what happens today, don’t ever forget that.”

As my understanding of the world and my place within it has evolved over the course of my life, I have come to realize that the ultimate goal of religious faith is to help us “remember who we are.”

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It is in our brokenness that religious faith finds its true purpose and fullest expression.

PERSONAL PRAYER

Individual prayer is a powerful way of reminding us that we are part of the body of Christ. St. Paul understood this dynamic well: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many” (1 Cor 12:12–14).

When we study sacred Scripture, pray the rosary, or just say the Our Father, we are reminded that we are not the center of our own universe. When we pray “Thank you for 30 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

these blessings,” we are reminded of our deep connection to the life-sustaining world around us. When we pray “Please help us,” we are reminded of our dependence on God. And when we pray “Forgive me for my sins,” we acknowledge that life is more than our individual, selfish concerns. Truly, anything that reminds us of the God from whom we came and to whom we will return is the blessing of prayer.

A 15-year-old student of mine who lost her mother to cancer told me that she didn’t pray anymore because “it didn’t do any good.” Her mother still died. I asked if there was anything that did do some “good.” She told me about the friend who insisted on staying over and even sleeping in her bed with her the night her mother passed. She also talked about listening to soulful instrumental music because “it seemed like the music felt as sad as I did.” Finally, she said she always felt better after hiking outdoors because it’s something she always enjoyed doing with her mother.

“Why do you think your friend and the music and the hikes were helpful?” I asked her. Her response was immediate: “Because they made me feel like I wasn’t alone.” I suggested that maybe each one of those experiences was a type of prayer for her. Maybe each served as a reminder that God was present, even when the grief was overwhelming. “Re-membering” in this way can help put us back together again.

COMMUNAL WORSHIP

Our Catholic faith is communal. It focuses less on individual salvation and more on collective transformation.

We refer to the central sacrament at the core of our faith as “Communion,” where Jesus’ own words make the importance of remembering crystal clear: “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). The sacredness of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection—first experienced in the distant past—is brought forward through this sacrament into the mess of our daily lives in the present. In doing so, the paschal mystery becomes not only a historical event but also a current reality. The brokenness we bring to the eucharistic table, along with gifts of bread and wine, is transformed through this sacred remembering.

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But then came playground bullies and middle school trauma.

Then came our parents’ divorce, the F in geometry, and the heartbreak of first love. Then came unemployment, the miscarriage, the diagnosis, the loss of a spouse. In short, life happened. And we forgot that our separateness was an illusion because we felt less like part of something blessed and beautiful and more like part of something badly broken.

It is in our brokenness that religious faith finds its true purpose and fullest expression. It helps us remember that which living prompts us to forget. The word remember comes from the Latin remore, which means “mindful.” To remember is to call to mind that which once was, to bring something from the past back into the present.

Remembering has another connotation as well. Just as to “dis-member” means to divide up or cut into pieces, to “re-member” means to connect or rejoin, to put back together again. When I remember my deceased parents and share stories of happy times with my sister, I put something back together that was lost to me when they died. Even though we can’t be physically together, remembering them brings them from the past into my present reality. It makes me feel more whole or complete in some way.

Of course, remembering is hard work. It takes practice.

Fortunately, the Church guides us in three central “remembering practices” that help us recall and recommit to the wholeness that is both our heritage and our destiny.

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REMEMBERING THE ANSWER

The word liturgy comes from the Greek words leitos (“public”) and ergos (“work”). In other words, liturgy is “the work of the people.” It’s not the prerogative of the individual or a prize for the self-righteous; it’s the work of the people.

The Eucharist, for example, is not a solitary endeavor. It’s about “the people”—those worshipping with us and those not present, the people we like and those we do not, the souls of the dearly departed and the entire “communion of saints.”

Indeed, liturgy is the word we use to describe the ways in which we collectively remember—and re-experience— God’s presence.

I will never forget my son’s Baptism. Today the usual practice is to have the Sacrament of Baptism during a regularly scheduled Sunday Mass, but in the past, private family Baptisms were common. A dear friend who is a priest administered the sacrament with our family and friends present. The traditional words of the rite felt especially beautiful to me that day. At one point after pouring the water and anointing with oil, the priest invited everyone present to walk up to me as I held my baby and make the sign of the cross on my son’s forehead. There was something deeply powerful in those moments as this community, through this simple gesture, reminded me and each other that we are part of something much bigger, much more profound than our small selves.

Rituals speak to us at a level beyond ordinary language and action. That particular liturgy created a beautiful experience of God’s presence that I treasure to this day.

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SERVICE TO OTHERS

Interestingly, the word Mass comes from the Latin missa, meaning “mission.” More specifically, it’s taken from the language at the end of the Roman rite: “Ite, missa est” (“Go, it is the sending”). The central liturgy of the Catholic faith isn’t an experience designed to be its own reason for being.

Its purpose is to help us “re-member” or heal our brokenness so that when we are sent forth from the liturgy, we are able to reconnect the disconnected, rebind the unbound, and reassemble the brokenness of the life outside the church doors.

Religious rituals do not do the work for us; they prepare us to do this work.

But just what are we sent forth to do? “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and

with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Mt 22:37–39). That second commandment has multiple interpretations. At first glance, Jesus seems to advise loving our neighbors in the same way that we would love ourselves.

But there’s another way to look at Jesus’ words. Perhaps Jesus is telling us to love our neighbors because they are parts of ourselves. When we remember who we are, we live in such a way that recognizes our neighbor as an integral part of us. From this perspective, the only logical response to the needs of others is compassion.

At my school and many others, volunteer work is required. Some simply catalog service hours to ensure that students have completed the requirement. But I think my school does a particularly good job of calling students to reflect on what those service experiences mean—both to the student and to those served. One student reported that service taught her that “people who are outcasts from our society are just like all of us.”

Another said, “I became less judgmental,” and yet another said that service “benefits me just as much as it benefits the people I’m doing service for.”

Sure, a goal of service is to help feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. But it’s also to remind us of the sacred connection that binds all human life.

I continue to look forward to the end of the PA announcements each school day. I am grateful for the former principal who taught me about the blessing and the responsibility of remembrance. It is a gift to know oneself as coming from God, living in God, and returning to God. And it is a sacred duty to live in a way that recognizes that this is true for all living beings as well.

The Church’s “remembering practices” of personal prayer, communal worship, and service to others give us sustenance for our life’s journey. Perhaps the closest we ever get to the miraculous in daily life is simply in our remembering.

Mary Ann Steutermann is the director of campus ministry at Assumption High School, a Catholic all-girls school in Louisville, Kentucky. She’s also a freelance writer whose articles have been published in this magazine and on the popular Catholic website BustedHalo.com. Mary Ann lives in Louisville with her husband and son.

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9/11 at 20: A Tale of Two Friars Two Franciscans look back on their experiences of that day and its ongoing impact on their lives. inistries come in many forms—preaching, teaching, service, and others. For Franciscans, the goal of those ministries is always the same, though, and that is to be living witnesses of the Gospel to others. Sometimes, that witness plays out in a very public way.

That was the case on September 11, 2001. On that day, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were struck by two hijacked commercial airplanes. The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, was struck, and another airplane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after being hijacked.

Franciscan Father Mychal Judge is listed as victim number one of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. A fire chaplain for the city’s firefighters, Father Mychal was on the scene of the attack and praying for those who were jumping from the building when the first tower collapsed.

The force of the collapse threw him backward across the lobby into the escalators. He died of blunt force trauma to his head.

The photo of him being carried from the rubble has become a haunting icon of that day.

Franciscan Fathers Chris Keenan and Michael Duffy were both friends of Father Mychal.

Through his death, they were called to minister, each in his own way, both during a very difficult time in our country’s history and still today.

These are their stories.

FATHER CHRIS KEENAN: A MINISTRY OF PRESENCE

F

or many of us, 9/11 is an event that took place in the past. But for Father Chris Keenan, OFM, it is not only history but also very much a part of the present. Father Chris is a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), where he ministers to the current firefighters, as well as those who still carry the scars of 9/11.

Twenty years ago, after the planes hit the World Trade Center, Father Chris immediately wondered how he could help. He made his way to St. Vincent’s Hospital, which was within half a mile of the site, and offered his assistance.

“I was there helping people in the emergency room once they were treated to connect with their families, letting them know that they were alive, and find ways to pick them up and get them home,” he says.

Late in the afternoon, when things started to slow down, Father Chris decided to head back to the friary because he was scheduled to hear confessions that evening at St. Francis of Assisi Church. He recalls, “As I came out of the hospital, there is this sea of hundreds of medical personnel with stretchers waiting for all the people who never came [out of the towers].”

On his way home, he stopped at the fire station across the street from St. Francis of Assisi Friary and Church and

By Susan Hines-Brigger

BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM

M

BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM

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MOVING FORWARD

Father Chris embraces a firefighter outside of St. Francis of Assisi Church. The friar says the bond he shares with the firefighters is very strong.

34 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

Shortly after that day, Father Chris was appointed as a chaplain for the FDNY. It was not lost on him that he was stepping into some very big shoes. Mychal Judge had been a major influence in Father Chris’ life since he was 20 years old. He says that it was Father Mychal who influenced him to join the Franciscans. The two lived together at St. Francis of Assisi Friary.

As Father Chris says: “He got me in the business, and now he’s given me the business. When we’re commissioned in the fire department, we say, ‘I offer my life to protect the life and

TOP: FATHER CHRIS KEENAN ARCHIVES/ERIN WALSH; LOWER RIGHT: HOLY NAME PROVINCE/BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM

asked if they had any news about Father Mychal. It was then that Father Chris learned his friend and mentor had died. The firefighters told him that Father Mychal’s body was in the back of the firehouse.

“They had draped it in white, and his body was there in a bag,” remembers Father Chris. “I just stayed with him for about an hour. Then the rest of the friars came across the street, and we, with the firefighters, said a prayer. We friars said a blessing of St. Francis, and [Mychal’s] body was put in the ambulance and brought to the morgue.”

Immediately, Father Chris began ministering to the firefighters who had returned to the station and the families in search of loved ones who were firefighters. The gravity of the situation quickly became apparent. Within 48 hours, rescue and recovery turned to just recovery.

“Everyone and everything was vaporized, pulverized, and cremated,” says Father Chris.

TOP: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY HOLY NAME PROVINCE

Father Chris Keenan (far left) stands with the firefighters from Engine 1 Ladder 24 in honor and remembrance of those who died at the World Trade Center.

TOP: FATHER CHRIS KEENAN ARCHIVES/ERIN WALSH; LOWER RIGHT: HOLY NAME PROVINCE/BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM

TOP: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY HOLY NAME PROVINCE

Father Chris holds his FDNY chaplain jacket and helmet inside the chapel on the campus of the College of Mount St. Vincent. He currently lives on campus among the students—some of whose parents died on 9/11.

property of the people of New York City.’ So this isn’t just a job. It’s a calling.”

“For the next nine months, we had 343 funerals or memorials,” says Father Chris. Most of them were memorials because nothing was found. When remains were recovered and identified, the memorials would turn to funerals.

For seven months after the attacks, Father Chris took part in the recovery process on the pile two or three times a week.

Rescue workers would rake the dirt looking for remains.

“We would rake about the size of a basketball court. I said to them, ‘What am I looking for?’ and they said, ‘Don’t worry, Father, you’ll smell it.’”

“Those nights I would be there, it’s like, ‘How does one make sense of this?’ and I had the grace of an insight. As I was going down the bridge this one night I said, ‘I am descending into hell, and the face of God is on every one of those workers there in the recovery operation.’”

Along with Friar Brian Jordan, he celebrated Mass every week at the Ground Zero cross, a piece of steel that jutted out of the debris in the form of a cross and was kept as a symbol of hope. Little did he know, though, that those acts would greatly affect his life.

PTSD, sleep apnea. There are over 1,700 being treated for cancer in the FDNY alone.”

As the equipment would pull rubble off the pile, plumes of smoke would rise into the sky from the fires still burning underneath. Within that smoke was a toxic mixture of chemicals that had never been combined before. Because of that, Father Chris says, “There are 24 different toxic chemicals that they test our lungs for.”

When asked how he has sustained himself over the years, he is quick to praise his Franciscan brothers. “I really couldn’t have done this if I hadn’t been truly loved and supported by them in this effort. The other reality is that it was so wonderfully energizing working with and being with all of these wonderful people who offered the gift of their life to be there for others in their need.” He also credits spiritual direction and weekly therapy with helping him.

Father Chris will be retiring in January after 20 years on the job. And while he says that for most of the time he has been energized by his work as chaplain, the fire in his belly is beginning to die out. He says it is now time for another friar to be the next FDNY chaplain.

Now, two decades later, Father Chris says we need to keep the stories of 9/11 alive. For the past 10 years, he has lived in the dorms with students at the College of Mt. St. Vincent, where several of the children of 9/11 victims go to school. It’s a Franciscan fraternity of presence among the students.

For many of those students, 9/11 is something in the past.

But Father Chris knows that’s only partly true. That is why he says: “They need to hear the stories of other people who have experienced 9/11 because those who fail to understand history will repeat it again. The greatest gift we have to give to one another is sharing our stories.”

ONGOING MINISTRY

There were 343 families to relate to, both then and now, 20 years later. Those families included spouses, parents, over 800 children—some not even born yet—brothers, sisters, and other relatives. One of the connecting points he says that he has with the families is that he also had someone who died on 9/11.

The tragedy we’re still dealing with, points out Father Chris, is that in the years since 9/11, 250 more rescue workers have died, victims of the toxic brew of chemicals they worked in over the months at Ground Zero.

“I myself have five certified Trade Center conditions from my time of digging in the pit—cancer, esophagus, lungs,

Father Chris listens intently to the daughter of a firefighter following a 9/11 memorial service.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 35

”[Father Mychal Judge] loved to bring Christ to people. He was the bridge between people and God, and he loved to do that.”

—Father Michael Duffy

Father Michael Duffy, OFM, remembers that it was a nice, bright, sunny day when he and a fellow friar headed out on September 11, 2001, to pick up leftovers from a supermarket for St. Francis Inn in Kensington, Philadelphia.

While driving, he heard the news on the radio that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. He wasn’t overly alarmed, he says, because he assumed it was a small plane. As the radio became more descriptive of the scene, though, he began to realize the enormity of the situation.

At 4:30 p.m. a fellow friar called him and said, “Mychal Judge is dead.” That, Father Michael says, “is when it just hit me. It did cross my mind that, ‘I bet [Mychal Judge] is down there doing something.’ But not that he would die.” He sat down on the stairs and cried.

The two friars were longtime friends. They met in the 1970s, when they were assigned to the same parish in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Eventually, Father Michael went to work in Philadelphia. Father Mychal went back to New York.

The friends often traveled together, and Father Michael recalls that their trips were often impromptu. They were also often delayed, he adds, due to situations where Father Mychal felt he needed to provide help, such as accidents they would come upon while driving.

36 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

A SHOCKING REQUEST

Given that friendship, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise when Father Michael received a call the day after the attacks from his provincial minister at the time, Father John Felice.

“Mychal Judge had you down as his homilist,” said Father John. Franciscans are required to fill out forms stating their funeral wishes—the church, the readings, the music, the homilist, etc.

Father Michael says his immediate reaction was: “I can’t do this. This is a world event. I told him: ‘John, you’re the provincial; you should do it. It’s an important thing.’ And he said, ‘But he wanted you.’ So what are you going to say to that?”

There was also another challenge to the request, says Father Michael: Public speaking is one of his greatest fears. In fact, he says, “I almost did not become ordained because I’m terrified of speaking in front of people.” Now he was being asked to preach in front of a church full of people about his friend, whom he had just lost in a horrible attack on our nation.

“Everyone in the world was stunned. No one knew what to make of it. We were still watching the skies for more planes to do things. No one could explain how something like that could happen. And I was supposed to go up and say something significant? The second thing is, ‘What do you say? What do you say to make sense of all that?’”

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO/REUTERS/KEVIN COOMBS

FATHER MICHAEL DUFFY: A MINISTRY OF PREACHING

ALAMY STOCK PHOTO/REUTERS/KEVIN COOMBS

On the day of Father Mychal Judge’s funeral, crowds not only filled St. Francis of Assisi Church in Midtown Manhattan, but also the surrounding streets outside the church. The funeral was televised throughout the world. It is estimated that over 81 million people watched the funeral.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 37

Those three days between the event and the funeral, he says, were some of the toughest of his life. He says he wasn’t even able to focus on the fact that he had just lost his best friend.

38 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

TOP AND MIDDLE: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN;, OFM; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY OF HOUSE OF WATERFORD CRYSTAL;

On the day of the funeral, when it came time to deliver the homily, Father Michael reached for his glasses only to discover he couldn’t get to them inside his habit. He was going to have to preach from memory. And he went on to speak to the spirit and goodness of his friend rather than against the situation that caused his death.

“Mychal Judge’s body was the first one released from Ground Zero. His death certificate has the number one on the top. I meditated on that fact of the thousands of people Father Michael Duffy greets a guest at St. Francis Inn in Kensington, that we are going to find out who perished in that terrible Philadelphia. The ministry has served meals to people in need since 1979. holocaust. Why was Mychal Judge number one? And I think I know the reason. Mychal’s goal and purpose in life at that time was to bring the firemen to the point of death, so they would be ready to meet their maker,” Father Michael said.

“Mychal Judge could not have ministered to them all. It was physically impossible in this life but not in the next. And I think that if he were given this choice, he would prefer to have happened what actually happened. He passed through the other side of life, and now he can continue doing what he wanted to do with all his heart. And the next few weeks, we’re going to have names added, name after name of people who are being brought out of that rubble. And Mychal Judge is going to be on the other side of death to greet them instead Father Michael sits with a young visitor at St. Francis Inn as he enjoys a cupcake. of sending them there. And he’s going to greet them with that big Irish smile. He’s going to take them by the arm and the Volunteers at the ministry serve over 350 meals a day. hand and say, ‘Welcome, I want to take you to my Father.’ And so, he can continue doing in death what he couldn’t do in life.”

After the Mass, Father Michael says he came to learn that with the people in the church—both upstairs and downstairs—the overflow crowd on the street outside, and the broadcast on all the major news networks, 81 million people around the world saw him preach.

“Someone later said, ‘Do you realize you, as a Franciscan, preached to more people than St. Francis did?’” he remembers.

Since that day 20 years ago, Father Michael has tried not to look back too much. He hasn’t visited the 9/11 memorial and says he has no plans to go. At one time, he received a painting of the poignant picture of a fireman, police officer, Port Authority officer, and layman carrying Mychal Judge’s lifeless body out of the rubble. Some refer to it as a modern-day pietà. But he donated it to a firehouse in Maryland.

“Who in the world would want to wake up every morning and see a picture of their best friend dead?” he asks.

And though he misses his friend, Father Michael says he finds solace in the faith they shared. “The thing is, he had so much faith. And, hopefully, I do too. To me it was just, ‘Oh, I won’t see you for a little while, but I’ll see you later.’ And I Father Michael Duffy (left) and Father Ron Pecci stand behind a display of items really believe that.” Still, he says: “I can’t wait to see him. I’m going to kill him for putting my name down on that paper.” belonging to Father Mychal Judge, including his FDNY chaplain’s helmet.

TOP: HOLY NAME PROVINCE/BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; MIDDLE: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; BOTTOM COURTESY HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES

PREACHING FROM THE HEART

Mychal Judge, OFM 5/11/1933 • 9/11/2001 “Lord, take me where you want me to go, Let me meet who you want me to meet.

Tell me what you want me to say, and keep me out of your way.”

—Mychal Judge, OFM

PRIOR TO 9/11, not many people knew Father Mychal Judge outside of New York City. But inside the city, he was quite the presence. And while he is most noted for his role as a chaplain of the fire department for almost 10 years, his ministries expanded well beyond.

“Everyone thought he was their best friend,” says Father Michael Duffy.

Susan Hines-Brigger is an executive editor of this magazine.

TOP AND MIDDLE: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN;, OFM; LOWER LEFT: COURTESY OF HOUSE OF WATERFORD CRYSTAL; LOWER RIGHT: FATHER CHRIS KEENAN ARCHIVES

TOP: HOLY NAME PROVINCE/BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; MIDDLE: BROTHER OCTAVIO DURAN, OFM; BOTTOM COURTESY HOLY NAME PROVINCE ARCHIVES

Over the years, he was known for his daily interactions with people, offering a blessing, sending a note, or just listening. He ministered to the homeless, recovering alcoholics—of which he was one—and those suffering from AIDS, visiting them when many priests would not. It was all those interactions that made him such a powerful presence to many, say those who knew him.

Father Mychal Judge’s twin sister, Dympna, looks on as Father Chris Keenan (at podium) and firefighters remember her brother. Father Mychal’s jacket and helmet (on display) were found intact in the rubble six months after the attack.

This Waterford Crystal piece, sculpted by Sean Egan, depicts the iconic image of Father Mychal Judge’s body being carried from the rubble on 9/11. The piece was designed to honor not only Father Mychal but also the 342 other FDNY members who died that day.

In this photo from the 1970s, Father Mychal Judge (top left) stands with a group of fellow friars, including Father Chris Keenan (next to Father Mychal) and Father Michael Duffy (second row, right).

By Daniel Imwalle

my five daily prayers.” Their friendship and conversations about their respective faiths ultimately resulted in both students identifying challenges and pain points within their belief systems, opening the door for spiritual growth. Without interfaith dialogue, both could have easily remained insulated in their unchallenged beliefs, stuck in an immature form of faith.

As Abdulhai points out, the goal of these conversations is not to convert the other person. Rather, they are an exercise in bridgebuilding, a recognition of our shared humanity, and a realization that our collective moral compasses point true north to the God who created us all.

ICONS

MUSIC

BOOKS

PODCAST TV & STREAMING

FILM

VIDEO

E-LEARNING & ONLINE

COURTESY OF NETFLIX.COM (6)

Avoiding the differences and similarities between ourselves leads, at best, to a brittle and artificial unity and, at worst, to blatant intolerance in our communities.

SEDMAK/ISTOCK

hen St. Francis met Sultan Malik alKamil, a Muslim ruler, in Egypt over 800 years ago, it was during the Fifth Crusade.

Interfaith dialogue was still a remote concept, and yet the holy man of Assisi saw the potential for peace through conversation, not the typical course of action: one group dominating another and demanding surrender. Fastforward to today, and there is as much—if not more—of a need for members of different religious backgrounds to connect with each other. And though peace is a very worthy goal, MIT student Marwa Abdulhai points out that interfaith dialogue can help enrich one’s own particular beliefs.

In a TED Talk released earlier this year, Abdulhai, who is studying robotics and artificial intelligence, speaks for a little over 10 minutes about her experience with her school’s interfaith dialogue program, Addir, which means “bridge” in ancient Sumerian.

It might seem a bit surprising that a technical, science-heavy institution such as MIT would embrace and encourage a program like Addir, but the school leadership understands the need to prepare its students to thrive in a world where professionals of various religious backgrounds work closely together.

In some scientific circles, speaking of religion is taboo, just as speaking about science is taboo in some religious communities. Abdulhai sees this as a major misstep. “I would like to make the case that avoiding the differences and similarities between ourselves leads, at best, to a brittle and artificial unity and, at worst, to blatant intolerance in our communities,” she says.

In her time with Addir, Abdulhai has met and befriended other students from a wide range of religious (and nonreligious) backgrounds, including Christians, Jews, Hindus, and agnostics. Abdulhai became good friends with a Mormon student named Hope, whom she says “reminds me to pray

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

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Interfaith Dialogue and Religion in the Tech World

By Christopher Heffron

Short Film Showcase

D

o you love films but can’t always commit to their run times? Netflix has an impressive list of short films to stream for cinephiles with time constraints. Here are six to consider.

IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU

A

quiet miracle: This animated gem packs quite a bit of story in only 12 minutes. A couple grieves the death of their young daughter, who was killed during a school shooting. Written and directed by Will McCormack and Michael Govier, who won Oscars for their efforts, If Anything Happens I Love You beautifully addresses trauma, grief, and healing—all without a word of dialogue. • TV-PG

ONE LIKE IT

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irector Marwan Nabil’s experimental take on bias and cultural stereotypes is worth a look.

One Like It follows an Egyptian woman for a day and explores how others view her. To some in her Middle Eastern community, she’s a loose woman; to her mother, she’s a child; to her boyfriend, she’s a harsh authority figure. The film’s core message doesn’t hit as hard as it could, but it’s still an interesting examination of the barriers women face in any culture. • TV-G

TWO DISTANT STRANGERS

COURTESY OF NETFLIX.COM (6)

PHOTO CREDIT HERE

SEDMAK/ISTOCK

A

kind of Fruitvale Station/Groundhog Day hybrid, this Oscar-winning film, about a 20-something Black man killed by the same White police officer on an endless time loop, is a unique take on race in America. Even though the narrative sleight of hand is twisty, if not a bit silly, its central message on police brutality—especially in a post-George Floyd America—is deadly serious. • TV-MA

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HAVE A FAVORITE CULTURE ITEM YOU WANT US TO REVIEW? Let us know about it: MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org

CANVAS

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sweet, nine-minute window into widowhood, Canvas tells the story of an elderly painter mired in grief by the death of his wife. With the help of his daughter and granddaughter, he wills himself to pick up a brush again. While the film paints with predictable hues, it’s nevertheless a measured look at depression and how creativity can heal a battered soul. • TV-G

THE PRESENT

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his stunner by director Farah Nabulsi is about a Palestinian father and daughter who must endure a dangerous and humiliating checkpoint along the Israeli-occupied West Bank to buy a gift.

Gritty, at times terrifying, and so real it could pass for a documentary, The Present is anchored by Saleh Bakri’s blistering performance as the beleaguered father tasked with a simple errand in a difficult world. Unforgettable. • TV-MA

A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA

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he 1991 killing of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at the hands of a Los Angeles convenience store owner happened less than two weeks after the beating of Rodney King. Those events—coupled with the acquittal of the police officers responsible for King’s assault—sparked the LA riots the following year. Sophia Nahli Allison’s meditation on Harlins’ brief life is assured and profound.

And it is our obligation to remember the name Latasha Harlins. • TV-PG StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 41

CULTURE

By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP

about

FILMS

THE MEANING OF LIFE Waking Life (2001) Into the Wild (2007) Gravity (2013) Three Colors: Blue (1993) Where’d You Go, Bernadette (2019)

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n 2022, Dan Forester (Chris Pratt), a former Green Beret and current biology teacher, gets a job at a distinguished science research laboratory. As he watches the World Cup with his 9-year-old daughter, Muri (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and wife, Emmy (Betty Gilpin), a catastrophic event occurs. Soldiers from 2055 arrive to draft soldiers for a global war against alien “Whitespikes” that is due to begin in 2048. His deployment is for seven days but it will seem much longer. Emmy wants Dan to seek out his estranged father, James (J.K. Simmons), a mechanical engineer who fought in Vietnam, and ask him to remove the tracking band on his arm. Instead, Dan reports for basic training.

Using a wormhole called a “jumplink,” the new soldiers, after a minimum of training, arrive in the future amid a battle over Miami. The world is about to collapse unless something can be done. Colonel Muri Forester (Yvonne Strahovski), Dan’s grown daughter, is a field commander who eventually creates a toxin that will kill the female aliens, thus eliminating the Whitespikes.

Dan returns to the present, where his team realizes that the aliens did not invade recently but during a millennial explosion around 1000 CE. They were buried and then frozen under a Russian glacier, which is now melting due to global warming.

The Tomorrow War is a boring sci-fi war drama, written by Zach Dean and directed by Chris McKay. It suffers from inane dialogue and a superficial story driven by explosions and aliens that reminded me of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. The father-daughter relationship was supposed to provide the emotional quotient, but it was awkward and trite. The theme of global war is concerning because it normalizes conflict for the sake of conflict. Though I was happy to see the theme of climate change making its way into action movies, this is the kind of film that makes you beg for better stories and screenwriters.

Not yet rated, PG-13 • Violence, some language, gore.

42 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

CRUELLA: COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY STUDIOS/EPK.TV.COM; LAND: COURTESY OF SUNDANCE INSTITUTE

Sister Rose’s FAVORITE

THE TOMORROW WAR

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; THE TOMORROW WAR: AMAZON STUDIOS/EPK.TV.COM

Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the awardwinning film columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and film, as well as media literacy education.

LAND

R

CRUELLA

CRUELLA: COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY STUDIOS/EPK.TV.COM; LAND: COURTESY OF SUNDANCE INSTITUTE

LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; THE TOMORROW WAR: AMAZON STUDIOS/EPK.TV.COM

E

stella Miller (Emma Stone) is the only child of Catherine (Emily Beecham). Estella is very bright and creative but can be cruel. Catherine’s nickname for her is Cruella. The girl refuses to comply at school and lashes out at the students who tease her because of her poliosis, a pigment condition that makes half of her hair white. Catherine withdraws Estella from school and takes her to London. On the way, they stop at a wealthy woman’s house to ask her for financial assistance, and Estella sees a fashion show for the first time. She also witnesses three ferocious Dalmatians push her mother over a cliff to her death.

Estella makes friends with Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) in London, and they become thieves to survive. Cruella dyes her hair to better blend into a crowd. Later her friends get her a job as a cleaner at a fashion house owned by the baroness (Emma Thompson), and Cruella manages to get promoted as a designer and win her mentor’s trust. But when Cruella notices that the baroness is wearing her mother’s necklace, she realizes that she is responsible for her death. By creating havoc and competition at the baroness’ fashion shows, Cruella vows to get her revenge and learn the truth about who she is.

Cruella is a dark comedy based on characters created by Dodie Smith in her 1956 novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. It is meant to be Cruella de Vil’s backstory, but it may surprise some who won’t expect a revenge-driven story from Disney, a studio that has made billions on tales of delightful orphans trying to make it in the world. I like both Stone and Thompson in the film—they play off each other well. A psychological workup of the key characters would be interesting. Perhaps a sequel to this film will show us another side to this character.

A-3, PG-13 • Violence, revenge, murder, thievery, attempted infanticide.

Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings.

A-1 General patronage

A-2 Adults and adolescents

A-3 Adults

L Limited adult audience

O Morally offensive

Source: USCCB.org/movies

obin Wright, in her feature film directorial debut, plays the lead role of Edee, a woman who has suffered great loss and wants to live alone. She purchases a huge piece of property in the Wyoming wilderness and begins to live off the land and the meager provisions she brings with her.

After a near-death experience from exposure, she becomes friendly with Miguel (Demián Bichir), the hunter who found her dehydrated and disoriented. He promises to come back in the spring and teach her to plant and in the winter to teach her to hunt. After a year or two, Miguel asks her to tend his dog because he will be away for a while.

Months later, she leaves her hermitage to look for him.

The stunning cinematography of Land creates a contemplative space for this study in contrasts about people dealing with grief: how a rich White woman copes with it by running away and isolating herself, and how a Native American man negotiates grief and regret within his family and culture.

A-3, PG-13 • Some peril.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 43

POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH AND FAMILY

By Susan Hines-Brigger

Passing on History

Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions!

EMAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith and Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202

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or most of us, there are certain moments in time that remain frozen in our memories forever. We can recount every detail of the event, such as where we were, what was happening, how we felt. Sometimes those memories are joyful—weddings, births, victories.

Other times they stick with us because they strike us to our core in the worst way—deaths, accidents, tragic events.

I can still remember my parents talking about the specific details of their experiences surrounding large-scale events such as the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. My generation—Gen X—has its own set of memories, as each generation does. For us, some of the major events that shaped our worldviews were the Challenger disaster, the Columbine school shooting, the Iraq War, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

And then there is the all-encompassing memory of 9/11. This memory touched all generations, rocking our sense of security to the core.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

At the time of the attacks, I was three months pregnant with my son, Alex. I had gone in to work long enough to hear about the first plane hitting the tower, discussing with my colleagues what a terrible event it was. But then, thanks to morning sickness, I had to head home. I was lying curled up on the couch when the second plane hit. And then there was the Pentagon, followed by the news of the plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It all seemed so surreal.

I remained in that position on the couch for hours, watching the coverage and praying for all those involved. All the while, I kept

44 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

holding my stomach, wondering exactly what kind of world I was bringing my child into.

I can still recall all the details of the following days of the attack. We live near an airport, and I remember the eerie quiet without the planes flying over our house and the rampedup security everywhere we went. We watched the constant news coverage, searching for answers and hoping for survivors. We saw the photographs posted in the media of loved ones who were missing, in the hopes that they might have survived and just hadn’t been located yet.

During those days, I did what I knew how to do. I wrote. I wrote letters to both Alex and his older sister, Maddie, about the event and tucked them into each of their baby books.

I wrote from my heart, telling them not only the facts of the day, but also about the emotions and lessons we can learn from this horrible event.

TELLING THE STORIES

Now, 20 years later, my son, who was on the couch with me that horrible September day, doesn’t have any sense of the horror that took place. In fact, neither do most members of his generation.

And that’s where we as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and all those who remember that day and others come into play. Just as we listened to stories from previous generations about events that we did not personally experience, we need to talk about the memories and the lessons we learned on 9/11. When I interviewed Father Chris Keenan, OFM, about his involvement with the 9/11 attacks in New York (see page 32), I asked him what we can do now to keep the memories of that day alive. He said to tell the stories, which is how we will keep history alive.

TOP RIGHT: JULIE DORAN PHOTOGRAPHY; MIDDLE RIGHT: BILL NOLL

Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 27 years and is an executive editor.

She and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of four kids— Maddie, Alex, Riley, and Kacey.

Aside from her family, her loves are Disney, traveling, and sports.

F

TOP FAR LEFT: JULIE DORAN PHOTOGRAPHY; BILL NOLL (3)

Susan Hines-Brigger with her son, Alex

FAITH and FAMILY

A DIFFERENT VIEW OF 9/11 Every generation has and will have problems, but it is important to work together and overcome them with faith and love.

I

TOP RIGHT: JULIE DORAN PHOTOGRAPHY; MIDDLE RIGHT: BILL NOLL FRIAR PETE BRAINTEASER: BOB VOJTKO

It is a complex issue, but I believe that human resilience will help us get through any problems we face. Every Alex Brigger generation has and will have problems, but it is important to work together and overcome them with faith and love.

What happened on 9/11 was a piece of national history, and we should continue to listen to the stories being told to create a better future.

—Alex Brigger

Fr i a r Pe te & Re pe at These scenes may seem alike to you, but there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name eight ways in which they’re not the same.

(Answers below) ANSWERS: 1) A football has replaced the apple on Sis’ desk. 2) The doorknob is now a square. 3) The boy is now wearing a bow tie. 4) A flowerpot is on the chalkboard ledge.

5) Sis’ desk is longer. 6) The valance over the blackboard is longer. 7) Sis is holding a pencil. 8) The girl is no longer wearing a headband.

TOP FAR LEFT: JULIE DORAN PHOTOGRAPHY; BILL NOLL (3)

wasn’t alive for 9/11. As my mom wrote on the previous page, she was three months pregnant with me when the events of 9/11 took place. From my perspective, 9/11 seems like the distant past, much like the other important events that have happened in American history.

Most people know about 9/11 due to its recency, but its impact is what I believe is lost. In the same way people born after something like the Vietnam War can never fully understand the social impact that came from it, people in my generation can begin to learn about 9/11 but never fully understand, as if looking at it behind glass at a museum. We are told about the four planes and how they were used to attack points of interest in the country, but never taught the reasoning or the changes that have been made because of it.

Throughout my life, I feel that national events are becoming less impactful and more abundant. With the power of technology in our pockets, we can see more terror happen and feel less because of how often it occurs. When these problems are oversaturated in our minds, it is harder to see standout problems.

We are constantly being bombarded with issues and events at a younger age. It has caused many people in my generation to question bringing children into this world. I think it is a problem that has gotten worse. While parents, like mine, would have it as an afterthought and continue to do their best to protect the life they brought into the world, people in my generation are beginning to shy away from being parents, scared of what the world will look like in the coming decades.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 45

LET US PRAY

reflect | pray | act

By Shannon K. Evans

An Interfaith Prayer

Shannon K. Evans

O

n the 20th anniversary of 9/11, I am reflecting on how the world has changed since that day—and how the way that I experience the world has changed. When I watched the planes hit the Twin Towers from the TV in my freshman dorm room, I understood very little of US relations with the Middle East or of Christianity’s relations with Islam. But like all Americans, I immediately found these issues taking up newfound space in my mind.

As I watched my country cope with such grave trauma over the ensuing weeks and months, I felt simultaneously proud of the American spirit and newly fearful of Muslim people. Those were confusing times; many of us likely experienced prejudices and fears that we are not proud to admit. Twenty years later, I understand just how painfully common it has been throughout history for one religion to do harm to another—Christianity included.

How do we overcome fear and hatred of those who are different? Scripture tells us that perfect love drives out fear. There is not much action that most of us can take on the world stage, but we do have control over how we live our personal lives. In our own spheres, are we choosing to build bridges or

46 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

walls? Are we being peacemakers in the spirit of St. Francis, who risked his life to befriend the sultan of Egypt, Malik al-Kamil, during the Crusades? Or are we spreading further fear and division by refusing to focus on our common humanity?

MYSTERY OF GOD

Since 9/11, I have attempted to educate myself on religions that differ from my own to combat the negative stereotypes and fears that arose from that tragedy. I’ve done this by seeking to learn about other faiths from people who sincerely practice them. The truth is that God is not exclusive: No single tradition or culture can communicate the entire mystery of God to the human spirit.

We Christians have an unfortunate tendency to assume we don’t need the perspective of anyone else, but that’s not true. Many of our beloved spiritual writers and thinkers formed their ideas through dialoguing with other religions or through secular philosophy. I’ve heard it said that trying to understand God is like feeling an elephant while blindfolded. One person will describe a tail, another a trunk, another a leg—and all the descriptions are true! But they only accurately

P

T ALEXEY BLOGOODF/ISTOCK

?

WANT MORE? Check out our daily online prayer resource, Pause+Pray: FranciscanMedia.org/ pausepray

The 9/11 Memorial, which opened in 2011, includes two reflecting pools where the North and South Towers once stood.

TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SHANNON K. EVANS; TOP RIGHT: VISUAL SPACE

Shannon K. Evans is a frequent contributor to St. Anthony Messenger and is the author of Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality (Brazos Press). She and her family make their home in central Iowa.

Find out more on her website, ShannonKEvans.com, or follow her on Instagram at @ShannonkEvans.

reflect the elephant when they are put Additionally, our personal prayer together. When we take each other’s life can benefit from interfaith experiexperiences of God into account, we ences because they can unlock our are left with a picture of the divine that spiritual imaginations. We all know is truer to the mystery of the whole. the feeling of a dry soul; sometimes We need each other’s experience and hearing a new vernacular and encounwisdom. We gain so much by listentering different approaches to prayer ing—and we only miss can serve as a glass of out when we write one water in the desert. another off as ignoWhen our imagination As we honor the rant or heretical. All grows stale and our spiritual expression people are made in the relationship with God of others, we often image of God, and so feels at a standstill, the all the ways we seek curiosity piqued by find more mercy in a relationship with new ways of seeing the our hearts.

God are beautiful and divine can offer us new sacred. When intertools for the journey. faith listening is done Prayer might just with an open mind and genuine desire become wondrous again. for spiritual growth, it can be a deeply And in making room in our hearts enriching practice in the Christian life. for different ways that others reach for God, we are likely to notice the Holy Spirit’s expansion of our ability FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT When we seek to know and understand to keep the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. As we honor the those of other faiths, it becomes more spiritual expression of others, we often natural to pray for them. Praying for find more mercy in our hearts. Instead peaceful relations between differing of labeling others “wrong,” we find the religions has enormous consequences fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in our in people’s lives. Christians have a responsibility to pray for religious lead- worldviews and relationships. This, ers around the world—to dialogue and too, is building our prayer life. In fact, relate with one another. Our prayers for could anything be more of a testament world peace must begin with prayers to growth in prayer than experiencing for peace between religions. increased love for others?

HARMONY THROUGH DIALOGUE Dear God, I know you reveal yourself to all people. Help me honor my fellow humans on their faith journeys, knowing that doing so deepens my own spirituality. May the religious leaders of the world dialogue with one another in a spirit of love and unity.

Amen.

TO ENGAGE TIPS WAYS WITH OTHER FAITHS

• Visit a synagogue, temple, or mosque with a friend of another faith.

• Follow people of other faiths on social media, listen to their podcasts, or read their books to find out how honoring their pursuit of God can help you with your own.

ALEXEY BLOGOODF/ISTOCK

TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF SHANNON K. EVANS; TOP RIGHT: VISUAL SPACE

PRAYERFUL

• Be curious and ask questions about what you learn. For example, “What are the strengths of this faith expression that I might benefit from implementing myself?”

• Pray for peace and goodwill between all nations and religions.

StAnthonyMessenger.org | September 2021 • 47

reflection

—Richard Garnett

Grandparents Day is September 12.

48 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org

PHOTO ART MARIE/ISTOCK CREDIT HERE

Love is the greatest gift that one generation can leave to another.

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